(UPDATE 4/24/20 AT 7:45 A.M. ET): Lysol released the following statement after Donald Trump suggested injecting disinfectant to kill the coronavirus: “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). As with all products, our disinfectant and hygiene products should only be used as intended and in line with usage guidelines. Please read the label and safety information.”
Another day, another troubling moment from President Donald Trump, 73, during his COVID-19 updates. He heard a report from Homeland Security official Bill Bryan, who claimed his research showed that UV rays from the sun can help kill the coronavirus off of surfaces. Bill added that basic disinfectants, such as bleach and alcohol, also work to kill the COVID-19 virus in the same way. Trump then went a step further by suggesting that bleach and disinfectants could be used to knock out the virus, VIA INJECTION INTO HUMANS. Though this have never been tested, Trump seemed excited about the prospect. Meanwhile, the Twittersphere lost it over the ridiculous — and highly poisonous — idea. That caused “Tide Pods” and “Lysol” to begin trending on Twitter.
“I see that disinfectant 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. Cause you see it gets in the lungs and does a tremendous number on the lungs. It would be interesting to check that so you’ll have to use medical doctors,” he told Bryan following his presentation. “But it sounds interesting to me. We’ll see, but the whole concept of the light the way it goes in there in one minute. It’s pretty powerful.”
How to medical pic.twitter.com/0EDqJcy38p
— Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) April 24, 2020
Bryan, who leads the department’s Science and Technology division, gave a presentation claiming that the virus does not live as long when it is in warmer and more humid temperatures. He claimed, “the virus dies quickest in sunlight.” Though he added, “it would be irresponsible of us to say that we feel that the summer is going to kill the virus.” His claim comes despite hot and humid places like Singapore still having the coronavirus, as well as equatorial countries like Ecuador, which has had terrible deadly coronavirus outbreaks. But Trump loved it, and suggested also somehow putting UV rays inside people’s bodies.
Twitter exploded in disbelief with thousands of tweets mocking the Presidents comments, some even going so far as to reenact the scene for TikTok (see above). User @sethgs wrote, “Dear @realDonaldTrump I’ve eaten 7 tide pods and my wife is sticking her head in the oven and neither of us feels any better yet PLEASE EXPLAIN??” while @RedWaveMK added, This motherf**ker basically just told people to drink bleach and eat tide pods. You cannot make this stuff up.” User @HKrassenstein tweeted, “Paging Dr. Fauci. The President of the United States just told Americans to eat Tide Pods and inject themselves with radiation to cure Covid19. What the hell do we do?”
…WHAT pic.twitter.com/CCOYIsfSm7
— Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) April 23, 2020
Please don't eat tide pods or inject yourself with any kind of disinfectant.
If you do need help with #COVID19 issues, we have lots of resources at https://t.co/C4x8jjWL0x
Just don't make a bad situation worse.
— WA Emergency Management (@waEMD) April 23, 2020
User @mmpadellan joked, “So, after another disastrous trump briefing, there will be folks chugging Tide Pods, injecting bleach, and holding protests for their rights as Americans to do so. Thoughts and prayers.” @meralee727 wrote, “Dear Dr. Trump, I have a stuffy nose and a headache so I swallowed 27 Tide Pods with a glass of antifreeze and I don’t feel any better. Please advise.” Even the Washington State Dept. of Emergency Management jumped in and tweeted, “Please don’t eat tide pods or inject yourself with any kind of disinfectant. If you do need help with #COVID19 issues, we have lots of resources at https://coronavirus.wa.gov Just don’t make a bad situation worse.”