President Trump's batshit crazy coronavirus 'cure' theories are not just shockingly senseless and stupid - they're going to kill people
by Piers Morgan
Daily Mail
April 23, 2020
SHUT THE FUCK UP, PRESIDENT TRUMP.
Seriously.
Throughout this coronavirus crisis, the leader of the free world has turned the daily White House task force briefing into a rambling two-hour self-promoting rally.
He's devoted large chunks of them to trashing the media, attacking political opponents, telling us how great he is, and re-writing history as he tries to defend all the mistakes he's made since the virus first erupted.
And he's done all this while 50,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, the worst death toll in the world, and nearly a million cases have now been reported across the country.
But by far the most reckless and dangerous thing President Trump has done is use the most powerful podium on earth to air his batsh*t crazy theories about how to beat the virus.
And last night he stooped to a shameful new low by suggesting people suffering from COVID-19 should be injected with toxic disinfectant.
Yes, you read that right.
It's hard to imagine a more stupid thing for a President to say than publicly float a completely unsubstantiated 'idea' like that which will inevitably make some Americans believe having bleach inside them will cure the virus.
Yet that's exactly what he did.
Trump made his absurd claim after William Bryan, the Department of Homeland Security under secretary for science and technology, gave a presentation about new research which supposedly shows 'emerging results' that coronavirus degrades faster in warm conditions and dies quickest when exposed to direct sunlight.
He didn't explain why if this is the case, the virus has wreaked havoc in warm weather parts of the US like Florida and New Orleans.
Bryan added that his research also indicated bleach can kill the virus in five minutes, and a concentrated isopropyl alcohol solution can kill it in 30 seconds.
The President loved what he was hearing and decided to proffer his own ideas after Bryan had finished.
His first was that irradiating patients' bodies with UV light might work too.
'Supposing we hit the body with a tremendous – whether it's ultraviolet or just very powerful light,' he said, turning to Dr Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response co-ordinator, whose blinking face remained wearily, impassive as he added: 'and I think you said that hasn't been checked but you're going to test it? And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside of the body, which you can do through either the skin or in some other way. And I think you said you're going to test that too? Sounds interesting.'
He asked Dr Birx if she had ever heard of the 'heat and light' treatment to treat the virus.
'Not as a treatment,' she replied.
'I think it's a great thing to look at,' he countered.
But this, it transpired, was just the warm-up – literally - for his BIG idea.
'And then I see the disinfectant where it knocks out in a minute,' Trump mused.
'One minute. And there is a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning? So, it will be interesting to check that.'
At this point Trump stated the only fact he uttered during this medical diatribe of nonsense: 'I'm not a doctor.'
No, Mr President, you're not – so why do you keep pretending to be one?
He gave his own answer to that question: 'I'm like a person that has a good you-know-what.'
No, I don't know what, actually.
I just see a president pretending to be a medical expert and spewing theories that might have disastrous consequences.
Doctors around America reacted with bemusement and anger.
Pulmonologist Dr Vin Gupta told NBC News: '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 utilise when they want to kill themselves.'
Another pulmonologist, John Balmes from Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, told Bloomberg News: 'Inhaling chlorine bleach would be absolutely the worst thing for the lungs. The airway and the lungs are not made to be exposed to even an aerosol of disinfectant. Not even a low dilution of bleach is safe. It's a totally ridiculous concept.'
Robert Reich, a professor of public policy at University of California at Berkeley, tweeted: 'Trump's briefings are actively endangering the public's health. Boycott the propaganda. Listen to the experts. And please don't drink disinfectant.'
Yet when Philip Rucker, a reporter from the Washington Post, challenged Trump by saying, 'respectfully, sir, you're the president and people turning into the briefings, they want information and guidance and want to know what to do. They're not looking for rumour,' Trump snapped back rudely: 'Hey Phil, I'm the president and you're fake news.. I'm just here to present talent, I'm here to present ideas.'
No, you're not, Mr President.
You're there to do exactly what that reporter said.
For you to use your platform to fly absurdly delusional and dangerous medical 'cures' during this crisis is an outrageous abuse of your position.
And why the hell is Homeland Security getting involved in medical solutions the virus anyway?
As Dr Irwin Redlener, the director of the Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, told MSNBC: 'Everything that this scientist talked about from homeland security was basically incoherent, nonsensical, not really supported by evidence, and really contrary to a lot of things that we do know about some of the things he was saying. People have been getting Covid in warm climates.. UV light can be very harmful.. and the fact the president actually asked somebody about injecting disinfectants or isopropyl alcohol into the human body was kind of jaw-dropping.'
Yes, it was.
Let's be very clear: disinfectants are extremely hazardous substances and can be poisonous if ingested.
Even external exposure to disinfectants can be very harmful to the skin and respiratory system.
We all know this because every bottle of disinfectant we ever buy carries ominous warnings about it.
Disinfectant manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser was one of many including Dettol and Lysol forced to put out a statement after Trump's comments, saying: 'We must make it clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route.)
Sadly, this is not the first President Trump has floated dangerous and unproven medical coronavirus cure theories.
Several weeks ago, he repeatedly pumped up a malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, and was joined by a number of enthusiastic conservative TV hosts and pundits.
Then he, and they, suddenly stopped.
Why?
A study of coronavirus patients in a US military veterans' hospital found MORE deaths among those treated with hydroxychloroquine than those treated without it.
So, it was doing more harm than good.
When Trump first began saying in mid-March what a good idea the drug was for coronavirus, a Phoenix man died after attempting to self-medicate from the virus by drinking chloroquine phosphate, a fish-tank cleaning additive that they wrongly thought was the hydroxychloroquine Trump had been talking about on TV.
His wife, who was left critically ill too but survived, said: 'We were scared of getting sick.'
How many Americans, also scared of getting sick now the crisis has escalated dramatically, will now be tempted to try taking bleach to combat COVID-19?
We don't know.
But what we do know is that if they do it because they heard President Trump say it was an 'interesting idea' on TV, then their deaths will be directly on him.
Think this won't happen?
The BBC reported today that sales of bleach have already been rocketing in the US during this pandemic because so many false conspiracy theories have erupted claiming it can help cure everything from autism to AIDS and hepatitis.
And as a direct result, calls to poison centres have also rocketed as people misuse it and ended up seriously ill from severe vomiting, diarrhoea, dehydration and acute liver failure after drinking bogus 'miracle cure' products containing bleach.
Yet despite this, President Trump thought it was a sensible move to suggest people should have bleach injected or ingested into their bodies to fight COVID-19.
Some found Trump's latest ridiculous medical theories amusing, and myriad Trump and bleach memes have gone viral on social media.
I don't find any of this funny.
In fact, I found his remarks breathtakingly stupid, reckless and dangerous.
As I said at the start of this column, the President needs to SHUT THE FUCK UP.
EDITOR'S NOTE: I think Kaboom will work better.
Seriously though, first Trump touts hydroxychloroquine as a "game changer" and now this. Call me a never-Trumper, but the longer he continues to hold these briefings, the more often his mouth will keep overloading his ass and the more batshit crazy he is going to look.
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TRUMP'S CLEAN GETAWAY
Donald Trump WALKS OUT of White House coronavirus briefing after just 22 minutes and refuses to take a single question a day after his disinfectant disaster
Daily Mail
April 24, 2020
President Donald Trump avoided questions at his White House briefing Friday after giving conflicting responses on his proposed idea of treating coronavirus with disinfectants.
Trump said he was being 'sarcastic' when he asked government officials to study the idea of injecting disinfectants as a possible cure for coronavirus. He said he wasn't being serious when he asked his coronavirus task force coordinator and another official took study the proposal, and claimed he was jousting with reporters - only to later say government scientists were already working on the idea.
'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.
An image of his medical adviser Dr. Debbie Birx's horrified reaction went viral, suggesting she did not think it was sarcastic.
Disinfectant manufacturers rushed out statements urging people not to consume their products and scientists warned of serious harm if people did.
EDITOR'S NOTE; Trump beat feet because his pants were on fire.
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No more coronavirus briefings? Trump tweets they are "Not worth the time & effort!"
Daily Mail
April 26, 2020
An embattled Trump took to his favorite social media platform on Saturday to slam 'fake news' and to cancel the White House press briefings.
'What is the purpose of having White House News Conferences when the Lamestream Media asks nothing but hostile questions, & then refuses to report the truth or facts accurately,' he asked in the Saturday tweet. 'They get record ratings, & the American people get nothing but Fake News. Not worth the time & effort!'
Prior to the tweets, the White House called the press pool and announced that the press briefing was cancelled.
The White House has expressed that Trump's frequent pressers may be causing more harm than good as his approval ratings slide back down into the 40s.
Concerns grew after the president's now infamous claims that injecting disinfectant could cure coronavirus. Trump made the off-the-cuff remark during a Thursday press conference where he appeared to suggest that Covid 19 could be cured by using UV light inside the body - and by injecting disinfectants.
Even close aides were said to be shocked by the 'off-the-cuff' disinfectant remarks while Dr Deborah Birx, on Trump's Coronavirus Task Force, looked horrified.
His aides blamed his remarks on an eagerness from the president to present positive news, according to NBC .
EDITOR'S NOTE: Blaming the reporting of his coronavirus cures on a hostile media and fake news won't fly since what Trump says is all caught on TV.
It's probably a good thing if the briefings are cancelled.
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