President Donald Trump vigorously defended his administrations handling of the coronavirus on Tuesday, but it was a series of questions from CNNs Kaitlan Collins about Dr. Stella Immanuel, a little-known Houston-based physician featured in a video the President retweeted, that caused him to abruptly end his press briefing.

Mr. President, the woman that you said is a great doctor in that video that you retweeted last night said masks dont work and there is a cure for Covid-19, both of which health experts say is not true. Shes also made videos saying that doctors make medicine using DNA from aliens, and that theyre trying to create a vaccine to make you immune from becoming religious, Collins asked.

The CNN reporter went on to press Trump: Its misinformation.

I dont know which country she comes from, but she said that shes had tremendous success with hundreds of different patients, Trump said. And I thought her voice was an important voice, but I know nothing about her.

When Collins asked a follow-up question about Immanuels dismissal of wearing face masks which Trump himself advocated last week the President walked away from the podium, though on Wednesday he continued to say he was very impressed by Immanuel.

Although Trump has frequently spread false and misleading information over the course of the pandemic while downplaying advice issued by the governments top medical experts his decision to amplify Immanuel raises fresh questions about the administrations messaging and pandemic response. It also gives her ideas a significant platform and risks lending credibility to someone who has made a number of dangerous claims in the past.

On her website and in sermons posted on YouTube, Immanuel who practices medicine at Rehoboth Medical Center, a clinic in Houston, and is the founder of the Fire Power Ministries church has, among other things, claimed that sex with tormenting spirits is responsible for gynecological problems, miscarriages and impotence.

Many women suffer from astral sex regularly. Astral sex is the ability to project ones spirit man into the victims body and have intercourse with it, she once claimed in a sermon. Immanuel has not responded to CNNs efforts to contact her for comment.

The Daily Beast also said that Immanuel has suggested in previous sermons that alien DNA was used in medical treatments and that scientists are plotting to develop a vaccine to make it impossible to become religious. The Daily Beast reported on her remarks on Tuesday, and, according to Immanuel, did a great job summarizing our deliverance ministry and exposing incubus and succubus.

Immanuel received her medical degree from a university in Nigeria in 1990, according to the Texas Medical Board database. On her Facebook page, Immanuel says she was born in Cameroon and describes herself as Gods battle axe and weapon of war.

In the video, which was livestreamed by the right-wing media outlet Breitbart News and shared by Trump on Monday, Immanuel makes claims about coronavirus that run counter to multiple studies and advice from public health officials, including the Trump administrations own health experts. Breitbart did not respond to CNNs request for comment.

This virus has a cure, its called hydroxychloroquine, zinc, and Zithromax, Immanuel says, despite several high-quality studies that show the anti-malarial drug alone or in combination with others does not help Covid-19 patients.

She goes on to say, I know people want to talk about a mask. Hello, you dont need masks, there is a cure.

The video featured Immanuel among a group of people wearing white lab coats who call themselves Americas Frontline Doctors staging a press conference, organized by the Tea Party Patriots, in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC.

The video was removed from Facebook, YouTube and Twitter after amassing millions of views and thousands of shares.

While she has alleged that face masks are unnecessary, Immanuel appears to be wearing an N95 mask in a video shared on her clinics Facebook page and encourages visitors to the clinic seeking treatment to wear face coverings.

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Trump promotes doctor who claimed alien DNA is used in medicine and sex with tormented spirits causes reproductive issues - KTLA