White House cites Trump’s ‘injecting disinfectant’ in squabble with Flordia Gov. DeSantis over COVID treatments

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki took swipes at both former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday as she defended the revocation of federal approval of some COVID monoclonal antibody treatments.

Psaki noted that some of the life-saving treatments have been found to be ineffective against the omicron variant of COVID, meaning it would make no sense to continue using them.

“Let’s just take a step back here just to realize how crazy this is,” Psaki said.

Looking exasperated, she ticked off a list of right-wing crazy talking points that have arisen during the pandemic, including Trump’s infamous suggestion that bleach could be used to kill the COVID virus inside people.

“Injecting disinfectant, promoting pseudo-science, sowing doubts about the effectiveness of vaccines and boosters and now promoting treatments that don’t work,” the sometimes-combative mouthpiece for President Biden said. “We know what works .... and we’re providing them to Florida.”

The COVID treatment food fight started Tuesday morning when DeSantis slammed the Food and Drug Administration for revoking authorization for some monoclonal antibody treatments because the drugmakers that produce them said they are ineffective against omicron.

“Treatment shouldn’t be denied based on the whims of a floundering president,” DeSantis said in a tweet, referring to Biden.

Psaki said the Biden administration supports monoclonal antibody treatments alongside antiviral pills and vaccines as tools in the nation’s “medicine cabinet” to fight COVID.

She cited figures showing the feds have shipped tens of thousands of doses of the lifesaving treatments.

But she bristled at the criticism from DeSantis which she said was in line with other Republican critiques of public health measures to keep a lid on the pandemic.

DeSantis has been a vocal booster of monoclonal antibodies, which are popular with right-wing anti-vaxxers. The expensive treatments can help prevent serious illness or death, outcomes that are almost exclusively affecting those who have refused to be vaccinated.

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