THE BIG STORY

A taste of his favorite medicine

President Trump and many of his supporters have for months promoted the potential of hydroxychloroquine, a well-known antiviral drug, as a possible coronavirus treatment. The jury is still out on whether it works, although the FDA recently warned it could have life-threatening side effects.

But a lot of doctors are still giving it to their patients — and among the people testing the drug is the president himself, according to a White House press briefing today. “I happen to be taking it," Trump said. "I’m taking it, hydroxychloroquine."

"Why, sir?" yelled out one reporter.

“Because I think it’s good," said the president. "I’ve heard a lot of good stories."

Brendan Smialowski / Getty Images

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

Consumerism vs. Pandemic

The US became the richest country in the world thanks in large part to the strength of its consumer economy. We buy so much stuff, and there’s always more stuff to buy, and more credit available for us to buy it even if we don’t have the money today. This cycle of debt and consumption underpins huge parts of the economy.

It’s been put on pause during the coronavirus crisis, and nobody knows how or when it will restart. And a bigger question, Anne Helen Petersen writes, is how this temporary standstill will change our relationship with consumerism in the long run.

“In many ways, the pandemic has functioned as a great clarifier, making it impossible to ignore the dilapidated state of so many American systems. It’s highlighted whose work is actually essential, which leaders actually care about people who aren’t like them, and whose lives are considered expendable,” she writes. “And a whole lot of things we thought of as needs have revealed themselves to be pretty deeply unnecessary.”

Ben Kothe / BuzzFeed News; Getty Images

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SNAPSHOTS

The mass shooting at a naval air based in Pensacola, Florida last December may have been linked to Al Qaeda. The shooter, a Saudi Air Force pilot, had connections to the terror organization, the FBI said yesterday.

Texas will allow summer camps for kids to go ahead this year. “Let's be clear, COVID-19 still exists in Texas,” Gov. Greg Abbott said yesterday. “Our goal is to find ways to coexist with COVID-19 as safely as possible.”

President Trump defended Secretary of State Mike Pompeo against allegations he made government staffers run personal errands. "Here's a man that is supposed to be negotiating war and peace with major, major countries with weaponry like the world has never seen before," Trump told reporters at the White House.

Kim Kardashian West has begun selling designer face masks online. The move has received a mixed response from her fans.

Via @skims / Instagram

IT'S NEWS O'CLOCK

The podcast that has it all

Harry Styles is back? Trump is taking *what* pills? We get into that and a whole lot more on the latest edition of News O’Clock, our new daily podcast hosted by Hayes Brown and Casey Rackham. They also spoke to Protect Native Elders cofounder Jo Overton about the struggle to contain the coronavirus on Native lands. Check it out here!

INFLUENCERS ARE AT IT AGAIN

There’s no such thing as a free Peloton

If you have cashed up friends, you may know someone with one of those $2200 Peloton exercise bikes. For the rest of us, you may be familiar with the omnipresent ads featuring extremely good looking people riding their bikes in implausibly beautiful houses.

But there’s a new way you might have seen Pelotons appearing in your life lately: influencers on Instagram promising to give them away. “Every time I scroll through my Instagram feed, I am being asked to follow an influencer and a few of her ‘friends,’ so they can bless me with the opportunity to win my very own bike, no strings attached,” writes Stephanie McNeal.

She looked into what’s going on with these contests, and has all the details for you. But two key things: they’re part of a popular new way for instagrammers to grow their followings, and they seem legit — at least according to the people she spoke to who won a fancy exercise bike.

It turns out there really is such a thing as a free Peloton?

Tom