Pollak: No, Trump Did Not Literally Suggest People Inject Disinfectant

After yesterday’s Coronavirus Task Force press briefing, the media quickly seized on a discussion over potential treatments for the coronavirus COVID-19 where the president asked about the potential for a disinfectant injection.

“And then I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning?” The President said. “So it’d be interesting to check that.”

The President told a group of reporters Friday that he was being sarcastic.

In Thursday’s White House coronavirus task force briefing, Bill Bryan, leader of the Science and Technology Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security, described the results of new government research that showed that the coronavirus did not survive long in solar light, warmer temperatures, and more humid conditions. He added that disinfectants had also been effective against it.

Trump, responding to that, noted that there had been discussions of testing ultraviolet light on patients, or of methods to bring light inside the body. “And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it [the virus] out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside, or almost a cleaning, cause you see it gets in the lungs.”