During yesterday’s White House COVID-19 press conference, President Donald Trump seemed to suggest that sunlight or disinfectant might help unlock potential cures for the coronavirus. In the 24 or so house since, the internet has been talking about Lysol and other cleaning products across social media nonstop and roasting the President. To be completely fair to Trump, he never said that injecting Lysol or bleach could possibly act as a means to fight the virus. But… he implied it pretty hard.
Responding to recent experiments shared by the acting undersecretary of science and technology for the Department of Homeland Security, Bill Bryan, that suggested that the coronavirus faired worse in high temperatures and direct sunlight, and exhibited a strong weakness to bleach and isopropyl alcohol, Trump wondered aloud:
So supposing we hit the body with a tremendous, whether it’s ultraviolet or very powerful light… supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do, either through the skin or in some other way… and then I see the disinfectant where it 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, because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs.
For the record, UV light therapy is a thing — whereas saying “we can do something like that” in regard to injecting disinfectant directly into your body sounds like a pretty wild suggestion from a US President. Check out how people on Twitter (and the brand Lysol) are reacting to the news below.
Reminder: Lysol disinfectant and hygiene products should only be used as directed and in line with usage guidelines pic.twitter.com/yPVhvINxbU
— Lysol (@Lysol) April 24, 2020
How to medical pic.twitter.com/0EDqJcy38p
— Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) April 24, 2020
Curb Your Clorox Injections pic.twitter.com/oVBGibNojc
— Lauren Werner
(@LaurenWern) April 24, 2020
i will never get over injecting bleach. it is the wildest thing i have ever heard from a public official. it is two steps away from some jim jones shit.
— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) April 24, 2020
Death toll tops 50,000.
Unemployment tops 20%.
President suggests mainlining lysol.— Philip Gourevitch (@PGourevitch) April 24, 2020
Last year, if you’d told me in 2020 Kobe would die and Lysol would have to publicly warn people against the president’s advice on drinking their products, I would have said there’s no way Kobe is gonna die.
— Travon Free (@Travon) April 24, 2020
Just smoked a bong-load of shredded Lysol wipes. So I’m good.
— devon sawa (@DevonESawa) April 24, 2020
I’m a medical doctor with degrees and diplomas…but you don’t need ANY of that to know:
Injecting or ingesting cleaning fluids won’t kill the Coronavirus it will kill YOU!!
Don’t do it!
They are very good for sinks and toilets though!#Trump #disinfectant #Dettol pic.twitter.com/Nh8weOMSxA
— Dr Amir Khan GP (@DrAmirKhanGP) April 24, 2020
Trump supporters after they ingest their Lysol, Clorox, and UV light cocktail. #disinfectant pic.twitter.com/38gJzsRJkD
— queenlacheefa (@xxi_vega) April 24, 2020
So what you’re telling me is that the reason #Covid_19 is not infecting our youth is because they spent the previous year eating tide pods?#disinfectant #coronavirus
— George Clackum (@GeorgeClackum) April 24, 2020
This meme has been making the rounds on #fintwit
Remember folks, don’t inject yourself with #disinfectant! pic.twitter.com/Ras80Iy64W
— Investing.com (@Investingcom) April 24, 2020
It’s Friday! Can’t wait to have a smooth, relaxing, decanted glass of Lysol tonight
— Emma Vigeland (@EmmaVigeland) April 24, 2020
According to NBC News, during a bill signing on Friday morning, the President characterized his comments as sarcasm, saying, “I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters just like you, just to see what would happen… I was asking a sarcastic and a very sarcastic question to the reporters in the room about disinfectant on the inside. But it does kill it and it would kill it on the hands, and it would make things much better.”