Trump ‘excited’ about unproven coronavirus treatment, says MyPillow creator

“Is this something that people talk about very loudly?” he asked the reporter.

“We’re going to look at it, we’ll look at it, we’re looking at a lot of different things. I’ll say the FDA has been great. They’re very close. We’re very close to a vaccine. Very close to a therapeutic. J ‘ve heard that name mentioned, we will find out, ”the president said.

it is not known if he raised it with the FDA. A task force member told CNN it was never brought up at a task force meeting – even those attended by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, who is a member of the group. White House coronavirus task force, with whom Lindell said he shared his findings.

“I took this to Secretary Carson and he did due diligence and was just amazed. He said it was very exciting to see all the data,” he said.

The president is known to take and promote unscientific approaches to the coronavirus. He previously said he was taking daily doses of hydroxychloroquine, a drug he has long touted as a potential cure for the coronavirus even as medical experts and the FDA question its effectiveness and warn of potentially harmful side effects.

Last week Lindell was added to the board of directors of Phoenix Biotechnology, which makes oleandrin, and received a financial stake in the company.

“The reason I did this, I want it to reach the audience and I want to get it out to help people,” he said.

Oleandrin has not been approved by the FDA. The agency does not generally endorse dietary supplements, but says it is the company’s responsibility to make sure its products are safe and the claims are true. The FDA has sued hundreds of products for making false claims about the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of Covid-19.

The FDA did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment. The White House declined to comment on the matter, but a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services said Trump supported “safe and effective” treatment.

“I am sure the President strongly supports all safe and effective COVID treatments. As always, let’s see where the trials take us,” said Michael Caputo, spokesperson for HHS.

Lindell said the supplement was not released at a later meeting with Trump on advertising.

Lindell, originally from the Minneapolis area, is the chairman of the Minnesota Trump campaign and makes frequent appearances on behalf of Trump. He plans to attend the president’s remarks in Mankato later on Monday and wasn’t sure he would meet with the president while he was in town. He thinks “a lot” about running for office, as he originally told CNN in 2018.

The creator of MyPillow said he had been given numerous locations for personal protective equipment and therapeutic products, and first heard of oleandrine when contacted by Andrew Whitney of Phoenix Biotechnology on Easter Sunday.

Lindell said he did his own due diligence and research, citing studies from the University of Texas and Fort Detrick in Md., Calling his findings “so exciting.” He took the extract himself as a prophylactic and encouraged his friends and family to do the same.

No studies involving oleandrin and Covid-19 have been published in peer-reviewed medical journals, and no public information shows that oleandrin has been tested in Covid-19 patients. A pre-printed study, which has not been peer reviewed or published, found that the extract had antiviral effects against Covid-19 in cells in the lab. Two of the study authors are employed by Phoenix Biotechnology.

Lindell expressed frustration that the FDA has yet to approve oleandrin for the dietary supplement list or an Investigational New Drug Application (IND) number.