Both networks spent much more time on claims casting doubt on the treatments than Fox did. CNN and MSNBC each spent around a half-hour over the three-day period while Fox gave such doubts only seven minutes. By contrast, Fox spent nearly 90 minutes promoting the use of the drugs. CNN only spent five minutes doing that, and MSNBC did not spend any time at all.

Fox personalities and guests who advocated for chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine most often were television personality Mehmet Oz, known professionally as Dr. Oz; The Ingraham Angle host Laura Ingraham; Hannity host Sean Hannity; and Fox & Friends hosts Steve Doocy, Brian Kilmeade, and Ainsley Earhardt. Hannity and Trump frequently engage in late-night phone calls, and Fox & Friends is the president’s go-to morning show.

Fox’s focus on the antimalarial drugs comes just as the United States has surpassed China to become the country with the most confirmed cases of coronavirus in the world. As Trump considers plans to ease federal guidelines on social distancing and expresses a desire to “have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter” -- propositions that both health experts and economists believe could have disastrous consequences -- Fox’s promotion of the drugs obscures the very real possibility of a worsening pandemic.

Already, Americans have begun hoarding these medications, which has led to a shortage for patients who need them to treat conditions for which the drugs are actually meant. And an Arizona man died after he and his wife ingested chloroquine phosphate, rather than hydroxychloroquine, upon hearing the antimalarial drugs discussed on television.