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Did Trump Tell People to Drink Bleach?

By Gary F. Zeolla

      I recorded the Coronavirus (CV) task force briefing on Thursday, April 23, 2020, but I did not watch it until Friday afternoon. Before I watched it, I heard media reports claiming Trump told people to either drink or inject bleach in order to kill the CV in their bodies. Nancy Pelosi claimed he told people to inject Lysol into their lungs.

My initial Reaction:

      Right off the bat, I knew this would probably yet one more case of the media taking Trump’s words out of context or in some manner misconstruing what he said. They have been doing that ever since the day he announced his candidacy for President back in May of 2015. It is that out of context quoting and misconstruing of Trump’s words that have enabled the media to falsely label Trump a racist. Every single instance of supposed evidence of Trump being a racist you have heard falls into this category of the media misrepresenting Trump’s actual words.

      Granted, sometimes Trump opens himself up to misunderstanding by his practice of exaggerating or not being precise in his language. Then Trump doesn’t help himself when he or his administration gives changing explanations of what he meant. But still, the media never gives him the benefit of the doubt, always putting the worse possible spin on his words.

      I detail these mischaracterization of Trump words and in turn of him being falsely labeled a racist throughout my politics website, in my book Tearing the USA Apart, and will do so even more in my forthcoming trilogy on the impeachment fiasco.

The Background:

      I waited until I had watched the briefing to comment on this situation. To give the background, William Bryan, DHS Under Secretary for Science and Technology, had just given a presentation on the effect of sunlight, heat, humidity, and disinfectants on the CV.

      The DHS’s conclusions are that all four in fact help to kill the virus. That is good news, as it means the CV might wane come summer. It also means you are better off being outdoors than indoors in order to avoid infection. But he made it clear that does not mean you should ignore the recommendations about social distancing and avoiding large groups while outside.

      But it does mean, Gov. Brian Kemp was not wrong to open the beaches in Georgia. From the pictures that I saw, Georgians were for the most part doing what Kemp wanted, they were exercising on those beaches, while keeping a safe distance from each other. That is all very good. As I posted previously, exercises, fresh air, and sunshine help to boost the immune system, making someone less likely to have serious CV consequences if he or she gets infected.

      In any case, Bryan also specifically said that if he were to have a family gathering, it would be outside not inside. I’ve been saying that all along. Back in mid-March, I told my dad we would need to cancel our family’s Easter gathering and wait until Father’s Day until we had another family get-together, when we could hold it outside and this CV crisis had waned. We did cancel the Easter gathering, and it is looking more and more to be Father’s Day before we will be able to hold our next gathering.

What Trump Actually Said:

      After Bryan sat down, Trump took the podium. He then began to speak to Bryan from the podium, not to the press. That is important, as it means whatever he said, he was not saying it to “the people.” And in no way was he “telling people” to do anything. Any such claims by the media is a complete misrepresentation of the situation.

      Basically, Trump began to think out loud. He was wondering that since sunlight and heat kill the virus on surfaces, could that somehow be used to kill the virus within the body. Could we get UV light into the body somehow? I think he was thinking in terms of using a little camera, threading it into the body as is done for diagnostic purposes and surgeries, but having that camera shine UV light inside the body to kill the virus.

      Trump then asked if we could somehow use the idea of disinfectants killing the virus to do something similar in the body, to inject something into the body or into the lungs to kill the virus. He then ended by saying, “you’re going to have to use medical doctors.”

      Bryan replied that such was outside of his purview to both ideas. And that was it. Trump then turned to the press and began to take questions. Again, he was not talking to the press when he made the preceding comments. Thus, in no way was he telling “people” to do anything. That was made clear by him saying “medical doctors” would be overseeing it. That final phrase made it clear he was not telling people to do anything on their own.

      Moreover, nowhere in the conversion did Trump ever use the word “drink.” As such, any claims he told people to drink anything are completely disingenuous. He also never used the words “bleach” or “Lysol.” That is just the media and Dems doing what they always do, putting words into Trump’s mouth to try to make him sound as foolish as possible. That is what Adam Schiff did, for instance, with his “parody” of Trump’s phone call with President Zelensky that led to the impeachment inquiry.

Press Questions:

      The first couple of questions by the press had nothing to do with Trump’s conversation with Bryan. They had to do with Bryan’s presentation and the effect it had on social distancing recommendations, if it meant if people were outside, they could ignore that recommendation. Trump was clear that it did not mean that. But it does mean the virus might wane come summer.

      Then a reporter asked if Trump was saying people should inject bleach. If I had watched the briefing live, before hearing the media’s claims in this regard, I probably would have been dumbfounded, as it was clear Trump said nothing of the sort, and that seemed to be Trump’s response. He seemed dumbfounded that such a suggestion was even made. And yes, it was a reporter that first used the word bleach, not Trump.

      There were a couple of more questions along those lines, but Trump seemed to brush them off, and rightly so. He never said anything remotely close to what the media was asking. Again, the media always puts the worst possible spin on anything Trump says.

The Next Day:

      The next day, Friday morning (4/24/20), when I read Trib Live, the website for my local newspaper, a headline read, “Trump touts idea of injecting disinfectant, light into the body to combat coronavirus.” This headline appeared three times on the home page. That is the most times I ever saw a headline on their homepage. Normally, a headline appears once or twice, but never three times. And now having seen what happened, it is clear that headline completely misconstrued what Trump said.

      Also Friday morning, the White House released a statement saying the press had taken the President’s words “out of context.” That is true, but it does not go far enough. The media completely misconstrued the entire situation and what Trump said.

      Friday afternoon, Trump held a short press conference. In it, he says he was being “sarcastic.” That was clearly not the case. And this is where Trump does not help himself when he changes his own story on what he said. There was no sarcasm during the briefing. The White House statement was better, but again, it did not go far enough.

      Then the daily task force press briefing Friday evening was the shortest such briefing ever. It lasted for less than half an hour, while they usually last 1-2 hours. And Trump did not take any questions from the press, when usually he takes a whole bunch of them. And he made no mention of the controversy.

      I think that was because Trump has just had it with the press. Their nonstop unjustified attacks of him are bad enough, but to continue that practice during this crisis is unconscionable. I mention such back in my article Weekend Coronavirus Task Force Briefings Thoughts, posted back on March 23 about the task force briefings the preceding weekend. And it has never stopped. Every briefing turns into a series of “got ya questions” by the press.

Eating Mold and Great Discoveries:

      The reaction of the media and of Never-Trumpers was predictable. They are filling up social media with claims about how this is yet one more evidence of how stupid Trump is. “No one in their right minds would think injecting disinfectant into the body is a good idea.”

      Maybe. But then no one in their right minds would think consuming mold would kill a bacterial infection in the body. But thank God Sir Alexander Fleming was thinking out of the box when an accident showed him that mold could indeed kill bacteria. That observation and resultant research led to the discovery of penicillin. Penicillin then saved the lives of an untold number of American soldiers during World War II and of people around the world ever since.

      Who knows? Maybe someday, Trump’s off the cuff remarks to Bryan could led to some great discovery. That has already happened in a different regard. Trump’s “thinking out loud” about why personal protective equipment (PPE) cannot be disinfected and reused led the experts to investigate the matter. As a result, some PPE is now being disinfected and reused up to 20 times. That has saved an untold amount of frustration among medical personal and maybe even many lives. Sometimes, thinking out loud can be a good thing.

    In any case, do not believe the media that Trump was telling people to drink or inject bleach. That is clearly not what happened, no matter how many times you hear the media and others repeat that claim in the coming days, weeks, and months, leading up to the election on November 3, 2020.

References:

      ABC News. After backlash that his disinfectant ‘injection’ idea could be deadly, Trump claims he was being ‘sarcastic.’

      Fact Check.org. The White House Spins Trump’s Disinfectant Remarks.

      Fox News. Media erupt over Trump comments on disinfectant and sunlight to cure coronavirus: Here’s what he said.

      History. Penicillin discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming.

      MSM. White House accuses media of taking Trump ‘out of context’ on disinfectant comments.

      Trib Live. ‘Extremely dangerous’: Health officials warn not to ingest disinfectants for any reason, including covid-19.

      Trib Live. Trump touts idea of injecting disinfectant, light into the body to combat coronavirus.

      Wise Geek. How Was Penicillin Discovered and Developed?

Did Trump Tell People to Drink Bleach? Copyright © 2020 by Gary F. Zeolla (www.Zeolla.org).

The above article was posted on this website April 25, 2020.