Rudy Giuliani revealed in a radio interview Tuesday that he is the latest Donald Trump associate to be getting an experimental treatment after testing positive for the coronavirus.
Giuliani made the disclosure from George Washington University, where he is being treated for the coronavirus, on a day it was revealed his co-counsel in Trump’s effort to overturn the election results, Jenna Ellis, also tested positive.
Giuliani said he was taking remdesivir, a reference to an antiviral medication that received FDA approval for emergency use against COVID-19 in October. He also said he was taking a steroid, dexamethasone, the same drug Trump took during his own hospitalization for the coronavirus.
‘The minute I took the cocktail yesterday I felt 100 per cent better,’ he said. ‘It works very quickly. Wow!’
Rudy Giuliani called into a radio show from his hospital bedside. He is pictured with Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis. Both tested positive for coronavirus
He also revealed that he was consulting with the White House physician, who tends to President Trump, the first family, and others on the White House campus.
He isn’t the only friend or contact of Trump’s to get the latest drugs. Health and Human Services Secretary Ben Carson was hospitalized at Walter Reed and took the experimental meds made by Regeneron, he revealed.
Carson wrote last month on Facebook that he was ‘extremely sick,’ adding: ‘President Trump was following my condition and cleared me for the monoclonal antibody therapy that he had previously received, which I am convinced saved my life.’
Giuliani also took a slap at health guidance that public officials believe can save even more lives than vaccines in the immediate term: the wearing of face coverings.
‘Things happen in life, and you have to go with them — you can’t overreact to them,’ he said. He contrasted himself from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who called for people to wear masks after testing positive following his time at the White House.
‘You can overdo the masks,’ he said, after being photographed repeatedly maskless while indoors over the last week during hearing testimony and while greeting people as Trump’s election lawyer.
‘I’d rather stay at risk than live in a basement all my life,’ he said, in a dig at President-elect Joe Biden, Bloomberg News reported.
He dismissed President-elect Joe Biden’s call for 100-days of mask wearing after inauguration.
He dismissed concerns about the costs of the treatment he is getting, amid concerns some ordinary Americans couldn’t afford it.
‘I didn’t know that. I mean they give it here at this hospital,’ he said. ‘They went over with me the five methods of treatment that they had,’ he said.
He spoke amid fears of yet another White House superspreader event, as it was revealed that Ellis attended a White House Christmas party Friday just days before her own positive test was revealed Monday.
He called into a show he usually hosts
Giuliani tweeted earlier he was ‘getting great care’
Andrew Giuliani tweeted about his father’s condition
‘Oh my goodness. She tested negative, I think the next day,’ he said of the Friday party. ‘I mean you know it could be a freak that she had it. I can’t imagine that she had it at that time,’ he said.
‘She didn’t necessarily have it at the party,’ he said. ‘All you can go by is the test that you take,’ he said.
‘If you are invited to a place and they test you, and they test you as negative, you go in. You don’t know that you have it.’
He said he was tested Monday and Tuesday, then went to Michigan, Arizona, and Georgia.
‘I didn’t have symptoms until Sunday,’ he said. ‘I probably felt a little tired on Friday night. I didn’t realize it,’ he said.
Giuliani himself is being looked at as a potential superspreader due to his constant travels and habits. The Arizona legislature announced it would close for two weeks after he met with lawmakers there in an effort to overturn the state’s vote for Joe Biden.
Giuliani called into his own radio show on WABC in New York, which was being hosted by Linda Curanaj.
‘I should be clear by Sunday,’ he said. But Curanaj was more optimistic, saying he ‘Might be released tomorrow.’
Giuliani’s son, Andrew, was also upbeat. Andew Giuliani, who works at the White House and also tested positive after attending a Trump election press conference his dad also attended, wrote Monday: ‘Thank you for all the prayers for my Dad. He’s improved significantly over the last 48 hours and continues to get better. I can’t get him off the phone for the last day; the man never stops working!’
Giuliani reportedly has been calling into strategy calls for Trump’s desperate legal strategy, even as the losses mounted Monday. Tuesday is the statutory ‘safe harbor’ deadline for resolving election disputes.
Giuliani also commented that ‘when you’re a celebrity’ people worry about you more – a line that drew pushback online due to Trump’s comments on the infamous p**** tape.
