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.
-
Massacre in the favela: Rio’s police take on the gangsIn the Spotlight The ‘defence operation’ killed 132 suspected gang members, but could spark ‘more hatred and revenge’
-
The John Lewis ad: touching, or just weird?Talking Point This year’s festive offering is full of 1990s nostalgia – but are hedonistic raves really the spirit of Christmas?
-
Sudoku hard: November 15, 2025The daily hard sudoku puzzle from The Week
-
Trump DOJ sues to block California redistrictingSpeed Read California’s new congressional map was drawn by Democrats to flip Republican-held House seats
-
GOP retreats from shutdown deal payout provisionSpeed Read Senators are distancing themselves from a controversial provision in the new government funding package
-
Catholic bishops rebuke Trump on immigrationSpeed Read ‘We feel compelled’ to ‘raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity,’ the bishops said
-
House releases Epstein emails referencing TrumpSpeed Read The emails suggest Trump knew more about Epstein’s sex trafficking of underage women than he has claimed
-
Newsom slams Trump’s climate denial at COP30speed read Trump, who has called climate change a ‘hoax,’ declined to send any officials to this week’s summit
-
UK, Colombia halt intel to US over boat attacksSpeed Read Both countries have suspended intelligence sharing with the US over the bombing of civilian boats suspected of drug smuggling
-
Trump pardons 2020 fake electors, other GOP alliesSpeed Read The president pardoned Rudy Giuliani and more who tried to overturn his 2020 election loss
-
Supreme Court to decide on mail-in ballot limitsSpeed Read The court will determine whether states can count mail-in ballots received after Election Day
