4/26/20: It was bad enough to find this week that the President of the United States didn’t understand simple science. Friday, and on into the weekend, it got worse. Most Americans know lying comes naturally to Trump. Fish have to swim. Dogs have to woof. The president has to lie.
First, Trump had Kayleigh McEnany, his new press secretary, and an adept liar in her own right, issue a statement. She insisted the boss had been misquoted by the jackals of the free press. “President Trump has repeatedly said that Americans should consult with medical doctors regarding coronavirus treatment, a point that he emphasized again during yesterday’s briefing,” the statement read. “Leave it to the media to irresponsibly take President Trump out of context and run with negative headlines.”
Yes! When Trump said injecting disinfectant might cure the disease, go with the positive headlines!
BLEACH
SALES THROUGH THE ROOF: U.S. ECONOMY REBOUNDS
Blistering criticism from just about everyone with a functioning central nervous system did not abate, in part because almost no one believes what anyone working as Press Secretary for this president says. So, as we’ve already noted, Trump tried to claim that he was being sarcastic all along.
It was not lost on keen
observers, that Trump was now arguing that he hadn’t been misquoted, just misunderstood.
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It “can cause death and very adverse outcomes.”
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former FDA commissioner
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Sadly, no one caught the sarcasm – because there was no sarcasm to be caught.
The manufacturer of Lysol and other top-selling disinfectants decided it was time to issue stern warning. “As a global leader in health and hygiene products,” the company statement read, “we must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route).”
The CDC also decided to tweet:
The Environmental Protection Agency felt the need to share a similar don’t drink the bleach message: “Never apply the product to yourself or others. Do not ingest disinfectant products.”
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, Trump’s own former FDA commissioner, was equally direct. “I think we need to speak very clearly that there’s no circumstance under which you should take a disinfectant or inject a disinfectant for the treatment of anything, and certainly not for the treatment of coronavirus.” For good measure, he added, “There’s absolutely no circumstance under which that’s appropriate, and it can cause death and very adverse outcomes.”
You’d be “better off with coronavirus.”
Trump’s initial stupidity and subsequent lying were met with justifiable scorn. “These [disinfectant] products have corrosive properties that melt or destroy the lining of our innards,” McGill University thoracic surgeon Dr. Jonathan Spicer warned. Dr. Donna Farber, an immunologist at Columbia University was appalled by Trump’s suggestion that we might use ultraviolet (UV) light to kill the virus. The idea, she said, was “not practical.” UV rays don’t go deep enough. The rays would never get to the lungs; but you could suffer DNA damage, as a result.
Dr. Farber was blunt. Any radiation that would penetrate deeply enough “would cause so much damage” that you’d be “better off with coronavirus.”
The more you looked for reaction – to ensure you were getting the story in full – the more the condemnations piled up. “Inhaling chlorine bleach would be absolutely the worst thing for the lungs,” warned Dr. John Balmes, a San Francisco pulmonologist. “Not even a low dilution of bleach or isopropyl alcohol is safe. It’s a totally ridiculous concept.”
“This is one of the most dangerous and idiotic suggestions
made so far in how one might actually treat COVID-19,” a British expert told U.S. News and World Report. “It is hugely irresponsible because, sadly, there
are people around the world who might believe this sort of nonsense and try it
out for themselves.”
Finally, Dr. Vin Gupta, a global health policy expert, 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 utilize when they want to
kill themselves [emphasis added]...Any amount of bleach or isopropyl
alcohol or any kind of common household cleaner is inappropriate for ingestion
even in small amounts. Small amounts are deadly.
Gupta said he found watching the president’s press
conferences “demoralizing.” He was horrified to think Trump’s loyal listeners
might trust in what he offered as advice. “It’s exceptionally dangerous,” Dr.
Gupta warned. There were people “who
hang on to every word” the president says.
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