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On April 23, 2020, social media users encountered numerous comments that claimed U.S. President Donald Trump had suggested injecting disinfectants as a cure for COVID-19 during a White House press briefing. As many of these comments included jokes instead of a link to Trump's alleged remarks, some people were left wondering what Trump actually said about disinfectants, injections, and COVID-19. The comment in question came shortly after a presentation by William N. Bryan, the acting undersecretary for science and technology at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, about how heat and humidity could impact the spread of COVID-19 during the summer months. Bryan mentioned a recent, non-peer-reviewed study that showed how disinfectants and sunlight could kill the coronavirus on non-porous surfaces such as counters or door handles. Bryan's presentation focused on how light and disinfectants affected the coronavirus on surfaces. But when Trump took the podium, he started talking about what would happen if light and disinfectants were brought inside the body to fight the virus. Here's the official White House transcript of Trump's remarks (emphasis added): Trump made this comment following a presentation on how sunlight and disinfectant affect the coronavirus. This presentation prompted Trump to discuss a question he said probably some of you are thinking of concerning what would happen if you brought the light inside the body. As Trump continued, he also offered his thoughts on how disinfectants could be brought inside the body by injection. While Trump noted that this method would have to be checked by doctors, he said it sounded interesting to him. The remarks spurred widespread condemnation from health officials, who issued statements urging people not to inject or ingest cleaning products. Dr. Vin Gupta, a pulmonologist and global health policy expert and NBC News contributor, said: This notion of injecting or ingesting any type of cleansing product into the body is irresponsible, and it's dangerous. It's a common method that people utilize when they want to kill themselves. Reckitt Benckiser, the British company that manufacturers Lysol and Dettol, published a statement on its website saying that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body: While medical experts and cleaning-supply companies feared Trump's suggestion that disinfectants could be injected as a treatment for COVID-19 could result in people poisoning themselves by ingesting or injecting cleaning products, some of the president's supporters claimed his remarks were taken out of context. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany noted that Trump also told Americans to consult with their doctors regarding coronavirus treatments. Leave it to the media to irresponsibly take President Trump out of context and run with negative headlines, she said. Other Trump defenders noted that Trump clarified later in the briefing that disinfectants would not, in fact, be administered through injections, but the clarification itself was less than clear. It wouldn't be through injection, Trump said. We're talking about through almost a cleaning, sterilization of an area. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't work. But it certainly has a big effect if it's on a stationary object. In any case, attempts to deflect criticism of Trump's remarks were rendered moot the next day, when the president essentially admitted discussing the injection of disinfectants to treat COVID-19 by claiming he said it sarcastically to prank reporters: I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters just like you, just to see what would happen. I was asking a sarcastic 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 it would make things much better. Whether or not his tone was sarcastic is something of a subjective call. Here is the video.
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