White House Tries to Walk Back Trump Statement on Injecting Disinfectant: He’s Repeatedly Said People Should Consult With Doctors

The White House, on Friday, sought to clarify a statement President Donald Trump made about “injecting” disinfectant as a means to combating COVID-19 in the human body, saying Americans “should consult with medical doctors.”

“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,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement (via CBS’ Weijia Jiang). “Leave it to the media to irresponsibly take President Trump out of context and run with negative headlines.”

After William Bryan, the acting undersecretary for science and technology at the Homeland Security Department, noted on Thursday “the virus dies quickest in sunlight.” Trump speculated about possible cures.

“I said, supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or some other way, and I think you said you’re going to test that, too,” Trump said to Bryan. He added, “I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? As you see, it gets in the lungs, it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.”

The remarks drew heavy backlash, and prompted medical experts to widely warn against consuming disinfectant products. Household cleaner manufacturer Lysol issued guidance advising against injection of their products. “As a global leader in health and hygiene products, 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 company said in a statement.