Wait. What?
Yes, some Twitter users really do seem to think that President Obama had something to do with the “functional cure” for HIV/AIDS reported earlier today:
When Obama's elected, they'll cure a baby of AIDS: http://t.co/Nl2osXbECD (Let's see if @JennyMcCarthy comes out against this.)
— Anil Dash (@anildash) March 3, 2013
https://twitter.com/lucasshanks/status/308398756380946433
Obama married gays, cured AIDS, killed Osama. #AveragePresident
— Vin (loves hockey!) (@RoseTintedVisor) March 3, 2013
“@marknyt: Scientists announce that a baby born with the AIDS virus appears to have been cured — NYT story coming shortly” THANKS OBAMA
— Michael Gelberg (@mgelberg) March 3, 2013
Naturally, liberals believe that Republicans would have stopped the cure if they had been able to do so.
The child who has apparently been cured of HIV better thank the stars the anti-science GOP is not in charge of her treatment #tcot #ctl #p2
— Cletis Stump (@CletisStump) March 4, 2013
https://twitter.com/SonofConway/status/308345047114469377
Who will be the first GOP Congressman to denounce Cured-AIDS-Baby for being sexually active in the first place?
— John Walters (@jdubs88) March 3, 2013
HIV was designed by the white republicans to kill gays and keep the black population under control youkno ?
— koyinsola (@Koyin_LDN) March 4, 2013
The three drugs that were used to treat the toddler with AIDS — zidovudine, lamivudine and nevirapine — were not invented by President Obama. Nor were they created by Republican officials.
They were ushered through clinical trials and brought to market by biotechnology/pharmaceutical companies like Burroughs-Wellcome (now GlaxoSmithKline), Biochem Pharma (now Shire Pharmaceuticals), and Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals. Yes, these companies are part of the industry that Hillary Clinton accused of “price gouging” and “unconscionable profiteering” back in 1993.