Biden mocks Trump for promoting bleach as possible coronavirus treatment
US President Joe Biden holds a roundtable discussion with Black essential workers in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, 23 February, 2021
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President Joe Biden has mocked his predecessor Donald Trump’s infamous suggestion that injecting bleach could be considered as a treatment for coronavirus.
The dig at Mr Trump came as Mr Biden criticised anti-vaxxers during a round table discussion with Black essential workers on the public health crisis on Tuesday.
“I think there’s a growing awareness that, you know, injecting bleach into your system doesn’t do it for you,” the Democrat said.
He added: “I’m being serious. I mean think about all the ridiculous things, and there is online still there are those who are the vaccine... deniers, and telling all these stories about it that aren’t true.”
His pointed reference to bleach came after the former president was condemned as “irresponsible” for suggesting at the onset of the pandemic in April last year for bleach could trialled as a treatment.
“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,” Mr Trump told reporters in a press conference in April.
When asked to clarify, he said: “It wouldn’t be through injections, almost a cleaning, and sterilisation of an area.”
A senior health official, under questioning from reporters, later said federal laboratories were not considering or trying to develop such a treatment option.
The suggestion was only one of a number of unsubstantiated theories the former president made put forward about the virus in front of health advisors. He also suggested that ultraviolet light and flu vaccines could be pursued as treatments.
Mr Biden has used the comments against the former president on more than one occasion, pointing out the bleach remark in a debate amid the 2020 presidential election.
“This is the same man who told you by Easter it would be gone away,” said Mr Biden while criticising the former president’s response to the public health crisis, adding: “And by the way, maybe you can inject some bleach into your arm, that would take care of it.”
At the time, Mr Trump angrily told Mr Biden that he had been “sarcastic” when he talked about bleach saying: "That was said sarcastically and you know it. That was said sarcastically.”
Following a reference by Mr Biden to the comments in July last year, fact-checking website Politifact ruled that Mr Trump “did not explicitly recommend ingesting a disinfectant like bleach.”
“But he did express interest in exploring whether disinfectants could be applied to the site of a coronavirus infection inside the body, such as the lungs,” it added.
In the initial aftermath of Mr Trump’s comments, the makers of household cleaners took the unusual step of urging people not to drink or inject their products.
The UK-based maker of Lysol and Dettol issued a warning saying: "Under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route).
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