Americans Ridicule Trump Over ‘Disinfectant Could Treat Coronavirus;

BY CAMI EZENWA

By suggesting that a strong disinfectant could be used to treat coronavirus whether as a matter-of-fact or as a joke, US president, Donald Trump appears to have made the most careless statement of his career this dawn.

This is because the controversial statement has brought him torrents of criticisms and more vilifying than anything.

It has shown truly that when you are president of the most powerful country in the world, you certainly need to be on guard what you say, even if jocularly – a recant may not remedy the damage that a poorly thought out statement would have caused.

Trump appears to be learning that lesson in a hard way currently.

The American media particularly is refusing to agree that his suggestion of deploying powerful disinfectants as treatment for coronavirus was a joke, neither is willing to bury the hatchet.

They have made the statement hunt ever since it escaped his unguarded lips.

The Daily Mail for example reports that the man was forced abruptly exit his daily White House press briefing Friday without taking a single question.

The event lasted just 22 minutes, with Trump sharing the stage with other officials instead of holding court for up to two hours like he has on occasion., the report says.

Besides, his aides have begun discussing ways to curtail the President’s daily briefings, according to four White House officials and Republicans close to the White House who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly.

Trump had defended himself that he had been ‘sarcastic’ with journalists when he proposed treating coronavirus patients by injecting but then admitted he also spoke to government experts about it and they were exploring it.

The quick exit in the last meeting allowed him and his team to avoid tough questions about the 50,000 Americans who have now died from the virus, including his talks of assisting Germany believed to have less demanding challenge with the virus.

Earlier Friday, Trump said he was being ‘sarcastic’ when he asked government officials to study the idea injecting disinfectants as a possible cure for coronavirus.

‘I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen,’ the president said – after his comments, delivered at length and no hint of a smile during his live televised press briefing, brought blowback.

But minutes later, the report continues, the president confirmed the idea was serious and he had asked government experts to study it.

In that exchange that went haywire, Trump rubbed his hands together and said he had been talking about using disinfectant on the hands – something his health team has been urging for months – rather than the completely unheard of practice of injecting powerful cleansing agents into the body.

‘Disinfectant for doing this maybe on the hands would work. And I was asking the question of the gentleman who was there yesterday, Bill,’ Trump said.

The new version of what happened at Thursday’s briefing came after horrified warnings from doctors and scientists – and the makers of disinfectants – not to consume them.

It was also on a day when it was revealed that Trump has little or no advance knowledge of the material he reads and sees at coronavirus briefings, and does not take part in discussions beforehand, the New York Times reported.

‘Because when they say that something will last three or four hours or six hours, but if the sun is out or if they use disinfectant it goes away less than a minute, did you hear about this yesterday?’ Trump said at the White House when questioned about his remarks Friday.

‘But I was asking a sarcastic question and a very sarcastic question to the reporters in the room about disinfectant on the inside. But it does kill it and it would kill it on the hands and that would make things much better,’ he continued.  ‘That was done in the form of a sarcastic question to the reporters,’ Trump repeated.

Pressed by a reporter and told that he was asking government experts about the idea, Trump responded: ‘No, no, no, no. To look into whether or not sun or disinfectant on the hands, but whether or not sun can help us, because he came in yesterday and he said they’ve done a big study. This is a study, this isn’t where he hasn’t done it,’ Trump said.

‘And that’s what I brought out and I thought it was clear,’ he said.

‘And disinfectant – the disinfectant has an unbelievable – wipes it out. You saw it. Sun and heat and humidity wipe it out. And this is from tests. They’ve been doing these test for a number of months.’ He was referring to studies on what happens to the virus in the environment when exposed to light, heat, and humidity.

‘So then I said how do we do it inside the body or even outside the body or even outside the body with the hands and disinfectant? I think it would work. He thinks it would work. You use it when you’re doing your hands. I guess that’s one of the reasons they say wash your hands,’ the president continued.

‘So they’re going to start looking at that. And there is a way, if light, if sun itself … So I said you’ve got to

The president’s Thursday suggestions were ridiculed and condemned by many public health officials in recent hours, and the manufacturer of Lysol issued a statement telling consumers not to ingest its product under any circumstances.

The White House earlier Friday accused the media of taking President Donald Trump’s bizarre comments about injecting coronavirus patients with disinfectant ‘out of context’ and sensationalizing them – but did not say Trump was joking in any way.