Well, my current thoughts and viewpoint on HCQ has been reached without any political affiliations or leanings at all!
On such an important issue, where hundreds of thousands of lives are at stake, it would indeed be tragic, if views and indeed treatment availabilities, were based more on political affiliation than on the available scientific evidence.
Now, anybody can weigh up available scientific evidence for themselves and reach their own conclusion. That's as long as all the evidence is freely available in the public domain. Which unfortunately it is not.
FWIW, my own view (entirely unqualified, but I have been blessed with an ability to read), is that HCQ is undoubtedly extremely effective in the case of mild to moderate Covid disease. It rapidly clears the virus and prevents symptom escalation. Thereby vastly reducing the numbers requiring hospitalisation, and probably also reducing transmission. It's win/win/win.
Extremely low cost, very safe at the low dosage which is used for Covid (I cannot find any confirmed cases of death from heart arrythmia) and easily manufactured and widely used in most of the world with a few notable country exceptions..
Countries in Europe and some other parts of the world that are known to use HCQ simply have the lowest death rates and for some of these the epidemic is all but over. Spain is the obvious example. Hit hard at the beginning, but began employing HCQ and now has almost zero deaths. Still having between 200 and 500 new cases a day, but in the last 5 days, not a single death reported.
For myself, it hasn't been conclusively proved whether Azithromycin alongside HCQ further improves outcome. It probably does, but I would still like to see more evidence. By adding in this antibiotic, you may introduce a small additional risk of arrhythmia, but it would still be an extremely small risk. If you have evidence of bacterial pathology, then there would be a clearer case for Z-pack (as I believe it is referred to in the US).
Zinc. Yep, add it in. Known to support the immune system, known to have anti-viral properties, known to be safe at recommended dosage, cheap, available everywhere. But then people who take a daily zinc supplement probably won't even get Covid in the first place (or they will get it, not know, and clear it quickly). (Same goes for Vit C and Vit D and Selenium).
Now if you have early mild Covid symptoms and you live somewhere where you are told to stay at home, self-isolate but not go to your doctor, you will be denied the opportunity to receive HCQ, when it is at its most valuable and most effective, and your illness may escalate, such that you need hospitalising... And if you end up being vented, the chances are you will die (88% in NY).
There are plenty of other countries with tiny numbers of mortalities using HCQ. India, S Korea, Greece, Turkey, and many, many others. I know China also uses, but their figures may be somewhat questionable. It is believed Mexico is not authorising its use, so it may be worth following their data..
Purely my opinion (plus the opinion of those quoted).
I suggest others fully review all the evidence and draw their own conclusions.