Background Individuals with large followings can influence public opinions and behaviors, especially during a pandemic. In the early days of the pandemic, US president Donald J Trump has endorsed the use of unproven therapies. Subsequently, a death attributed to the wrongful ingestion of a chloroquine-containing compound occurred. Objective We investigated Donald J Trump’s speeches and Twitter posts, as well as Google searches and Amazon purchases, and television airtime for mentions of hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine, azithromycin, and remdesivir. Methods Twitter sourcing was catalogued with Factba.se, and analytics data, both past and present, were analyzed with Tweet Binder to assess average analytics data on key metrics. Donald J Trump’s time spent discussing unverified treatments on the United States’ 5 largest TV stations was catalogued with the Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone, and his speech transcripts were obtained from White House briefings. Google searches and shopping trends were analyzed with Google Trends. Amazon purchases were assessed using Helium 10 software. Results From March 1 to April 30, 2020, Donald J Trump made 11 tweets about unproven therapies and mentioned these therapies 65 times in White House briefings, especially touting hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine. These tweets had an impression reach of 300% above Donald J Trump’s average. Following these tweets, at least 2% of airtime on conservative networks for treatment modalities like azithromycin and continuous mentions of such treatments were observed on stations like Fox News. Google searches and purchases increased following his first press conference on March 19, 2020, and increased again following his tweets on March 21, 2020. The same is true for medications on Amazon, with purchases for medicine substitutes, such as hydroxychloroquine, increasing by 200%. Conclusions Individuals in positions of power can sway public purchasing, resulting in undesired effects when the individuals’ claims are unverified. Public health officials must work to dissuade the use of unproven treatments for COVID-19.

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BACKGROUND Individuals with large followings can influence public opinion and behaviours, especially during a pandemic. Recently, Donald Trump (DT) endorsed the use of unproven therapies, with a death attributed to the wrongful ingestion of a chloroquine-containing compound. OBJECTIVE We investigated his speeches, his twitter, Google searches and purchases, Amazon purchases, and TV airtime for hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine, azithromycin, and remdesivir. METHODS Twitter sourcing was catalogued with Factba.se, and analytics, both past and present, was analyzed with TweetBinder to assess average analytics of key metrics. Time spent discussing the unverified treatments on America’s five largest TV stations was catalogued with The Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone, and his speech transcripts were assessed from White House briefings. Google searching and shopping trends was analyzed with google trends. Amazon purchases were assessed Helium 10. RESULTS Over March 1st to April 30th, DT tweeted 11 times unproven therapies, mentioning them 65 times in White House briefings, especially touting hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine. These tweets were 300% above his statistical average impression. Following them, at least 2% of airtime on conservative networks, and continuous mentioning of treatment modalities like azithromycin, was seen on stations like Fox News. Google searches and purchases increased following his first mentions on March 19th, and again with his tweeting on March 21st. The same is true for all medications on Amazon, with purchases like hydroxychloroquine increasing by 200%. CONCLUSIONS Individuals in position of power can sway public purchasing, resulting in undesired effects when the claims are unverified. Public health officials must work to dissuade unproven treatments for COVID-19. CLINICALTRIAL Not applicable