‘I do regret being there’: Simone Gold, doctor who opposes COVID vaccine, supports hydroxychloroquine, was inside Capitol during siege
A California doctor who protests pandemic lockdowns and vilifies vaccines while embracing hydroxychloroquine for COVID treatment admits she was inside the Capitol during Wednesday’s siege.
Dr. Simone Gold told the Washington Post she indeed was the woman pictured on the Rotunda floor after it was overrun by a pro-Trump mob seeking to disrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election.
“I do regret being there,” Gold told WAPO, saying she’s now worried her presence during the illegal riot will distract from her work with her Fox News-friendly advocacy group, America’s Frontline Doctors.
Gold, 55, was one of the people pictured in an FBI bulletin issued Friday that sought to identify people who stormed the Capitol.
She rose to national prominence in July after she organized a press conference on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court assailing pandemic lockdowns and claiming “hydroxychloroquine works” in the treatment of COVID-19.
President Trump called hydroxychloroquine a possible “game changer” early in the pandemic, but evidence it’s a COVID cure never materialized.
The FDA revoked its emergency authorization in June, saying the drug could actually do more harm than good due to its “ongoing serious cardiac adverse events and other potential serious side effects.”
As recently as Oct. 21, Gold said on Twitter that Americans “do not need to wait for a vaccine to begin safely and effectively treating” COVID-19.
“Hydroxychloroquine and other medications are cheap, safe and available NOW,” she wrote.
Gold told the Washington Post she worked as an emergency room physician for two hospitals at the time of her Supreme Court press conference. She was “promptly fired” after the event and has not worked as a doctor since, she said.
Speaking on Fox News over the summer, Gold said she had hired lawyer L. Lin Wood to defend her amid the backlash.
Wood, a prominent voice in QAnon conspiracy circles, was permanently banned from Twitter last week after claiming the election was rigged, filing frivolous lawsuits on Trump’s behalf and even claiming the Capitol siege was staged.
It wasn’t immediately clear Tuesday if Gold would ultimately face criminal charges.
At least 20 people already have been charged for their roles in the riot. Some are accused of joining the mob armed with weapons and bombs.
Texas Air Force vet Larry Rendall Brock, 53, was arrested and charged Sunday after his ex-wife called authorities to say she recognized him in a photo carrying zip tie handcuffs on the Senate floor.
Tennessee resident Eric Gavelek Munchel, 30, also was taken into custody Sunday after he was spotted carrying zip ties and something holstered on his hip into the Capitol, prosecutors said.
