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.
____________________
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.
