The 'miracle cure'                                                   

She spoke, Trump shared, and she went viral! Houston physician Stella Immanuel has become an overnight sensation with her views intertwining facts and fantasies, with one of her most high-profile endorsers being the president of the United States.

Her video on COVID-19 was tweeted by Donald Trump Jr. as "must watch" and retweeted by President Donald Trump on Monday. Soon Trump allies and supporters amplified the message, with the clip receiving over 20 million views in just 24 hours on Facebook alone.

So, what made Dr. Immanuel, an African American pastor and founder of a church, Trump's new go-to COVID-19 doctor? Her obnoxious medical beliefs!

"Nobody needs to get sick. This virus has a cure – It is called hydroxychloroquine. I have treated over 350 patients and not had one death," claimed Dr. Immanuel in a speech on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington along with other white lab coat-wearing medics that bill themselves as "America's Frontline Doctors." The video was first published by right-wing website Breitbart on Monday.

Hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug, has been relentlessly promoted by Trump as a miracle cure for COVID-19 despite red flags raised by medical experts worldwide. On July 4, the World Health Organization halted trials of the disproven drug after interim trial results showed that it produces little or no reduction in the mortality of hospitalized patients.

In June, following reports of "serious heart rhythm and other safety issues, including blood and lymph system disorders, kidney injuries and liver failure," the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned against using the drug to treat COVID-19 patients.

Theater of the absurd?

On Wednesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, a senior member of the White House coronavirus task force, said the malaria medication was ineffective against the novel coronavirus.

But Dr. Immanuel is not convinced, she took to Twitter on Tuesday accusing the White House staff of secretly taking hydroxychloroquine and challenging Dr. Fauci to submit a urine sample to test. "I double dog dare y'all give me a urine sample," Immanuel tweeted.

In the video, that has now been removed from Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for peddling harmful information on the deadly disease which has claimed 600,060 lives globally so far, Dr. Immanuel also dismissed use of masks to slow the spread of the virus and rejected COVID-19-related lockdowns. 

While lauding the doctor for her "impressive" work, Trump said on Tuesday: "She said that she had tremendous success with hundreds of different patients. I thought her voice was an important voice, but I know nothing about her."

But there's one more commonality between President Trump and Dr. Immanuel – both have a history of making bizarre claims on medical and other issues.

In her other conspiracy theories, she says alien DNA is currently used in medical treatments and that scientists are working on a vaccine to make people less religious. She also alleges that the U.S. government is run by "reptilians" and other aliens.

She has often claimed that gynecological problems like cysts and endometriosis are in fact caused by people having sex with demons and witches in their sleep.

The U.S. has been the worst-hit country with over 150,000 deaths with the virus showing no signs of slowing down. From the beginning of the outbreak, the scientific community in the country is also battling a misinformation campaign, that on many occasions has been floated, endorsed and amplified by Trump and his supporters. The latest quack is yet another character in this theater of the absurd. The show goes on…uninterrupted.