Trump's disinfectant idea isn't just 'utterly crazy,' it wouldn't harm the coronavirus, British doctor explains
If President Trump really watches hours of cable news every morning, as The New York Times reported Thursday, he is going to have a bad Friday morning.
John Berman, co-host of CNN's New Day, started off Friday's show by calling Trump's Thursday night comments about possibly injecting disinfectant into the lungs of COVID-19 patients "a heartbreaking work of staggering ignorance." What Trump is suggesting, he added, "will hurt you." New Day showed some of Trump's comments, and Alisyn Camerota read the statement from Lysol warning people against putting disinfectants inside their bodies. Dr. Carlos del Rio at Emory University explained why Trump's ideas, which also included radiating ultraviolet or "powerful" light inside the body, are nonsensical.
Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, appeared to think it was a bad idea in real time, too.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Dr. Hilary Jones at Good Morning Britain explained cogently but bitingly why Trump's idea just wouldn't work.
"You know, I've heard some crazy things in my life, but this is probably one of the craziest," Jones said. "To use a disinfectant and inject it into the human body is not only toxic and highly poisonous but would do no good whatsoever. It would cause inflammation of human tissues, and not touch the virus at all, which actually lives in human cells, not on the surface of them. So he is completely and utterly crazy to suggest this." Sunlight also wouldn't affect the virus inside cells, he added. "It is true that the virus decays outside of the human body in ultraviolet light from the sun, but inside the body, of course, sunlight would do absolutely nothing, and how could you get sunshine into the human body?"
Luckily, Trump doesn't watch British morning shows. And maybe Fox & Friends was polite enough to discuss Joe Biden instead.
-
Trump’s fuel blockade puts Cuba in crisis modeIN THE SPOTLIGHT Plummeting tourism, scrambling airlines and rolling blackouts are pushing Cuban society to the brink
-
‘The mark’s significance is psychological, if that’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
How did ‘wine moms’ become the face of anti-ICE protests?Today’s Big Question Women lead the resistance to Trump’s deportations
-
Judge blocks Trump suit for Michigan voter rollsSpeed Read A Trump-appointed federal judge rejected the administration’s demand for voters’ personal data
-
US to send 200 troops to Nigeria to train armySpeed Read Trump has accused the West African government of failing to protect Christians from terrorist attacks
-
Grand jury rejects charging 6 Democrats for ‘orders’ videoSpeed Read The jury refused to indict Democratic lawmakers for a video in which they urged military members to resist illegal orders
-
Judge rejects California’s ICE mask ban, OKs ID lawSpeed Read Federal law enforcement agents can wear masks but must display clear identification
-
Lawmakers say Epstein files implicate 6 more menSpeed Read The Trump department apparently blacked out the names of several people who should have been identified
-
Japan’s Takaichi cements power with snap election winSpeed Read President Donald Trump congratulated the conservative prime minister
-
Trump sues IRS for $10B over tax record leaksSpeed Read The president is claiming ‘reputational and financial harm’ from leaks of his tax information between 2018 and 2020
-
Trump, Senate Democrats reach DHS funding dealSpeed Read The deal will fund most of the government through September and the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks
