Even Fox News wasn't convinced when Trump claimed his disinfectant injection comments were 'sarcasm'
President Trump seemed pretty sincere when he doled out some dangerous medical advice on Thursday. Just ask Fox News' Bret Baier.
In Thursday's White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing, President Trump gave a very detailed explanation of how doctors may want to consider injecting disinfectants like bleach into coronavirus patients' bodies, seeing as a disinfectants "knocks out" the virus "in a minute." Trump defended his comments as "sarcastic" on Friday after receiving a wave of backlash, but Baier doubted that was the case. "Well, that's not how it looked in the briefing," Baier said on Friday. "It didn't seem like it was coming off as sarcastic when he was talking and turning to Dr. [Deborah] Birx on the side."
Fox Business host Neil Cavuto was even more clear about how real Trump's "unsettling" suggestions seemed. "The president was not joking in his remarks yesterday when he talked about injecting people with disinfectant, nor were we imagining the incredulous looks he got from his medical team when he made the suggestion," Cavuto declared on his show on Friday. Fox News medical contributor Marc Siegel meanwhile appeared on Fox News to break down exactly why injecting yourself with bleach is a bad idea, as if that had to be explained.
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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Heavenly spectacle in the wilds of CanadaThe Week Recommends ‘Mind-bending’ outpost for spotting animals – and the northern lights
-
Facial recognition: a revolution in policingTalking Point All 43 police forces in England and Wales are set to be granted access, with those against calling for increasing safeguards on the technology
-
Codeword: December 14, 2025The daily codeword puzzle from The Week
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
-
Indiana Senate rejects Trump’s gerrymander pushSpeed Read The proposed gerrymander would have likely flipped the state’s two Democratic-held US House seats
-
Democrat files to impeach RFK Jr.Speed Read Rep. Haley Stevens filed articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
-
$1M ‘Trump Gold Card’ goes live amid travel rule furorSpeed Read The new gold card visa offers an expedited path to citizenship in exchange for $1 million
-
US seizes oil tanker off VenezuelaSpeed Read The seizure was a significant escalation in the pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
-
Judge orders release of Ghislaine Maxwell recordsSpeed Read The grand jury records from the 2019 prosecution of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will be made public
-
Miami elects first Democratic mayor in 28 yearsSpeed Read Eileen Higgins, Miami’s first woman mayor, focused on affordability and Trump’s immigration crackdown in her campaign
