I’m probably going to piss many of you off by saying this and frankly I don’t give a damn. When it comes to medicine and science, despite his uncle being a “brilliant MIT engineer†as if that was hereditary, Trump is an idiot. Yes, I said it, he’s an idiot. But unlike your crazy uncle spouting off crazy nonsense at the Thanksgiving dinner table or looking directly at the Sun during a solar eclipse, he is POTUS and needs to be held to a higher standard.
Trump should open these briefings by giving (reading) a brief general overview of the current situation and giving the country words of encouragement. He should then turn it over to the members of the task force and leave.
These pressers have become more ridiculous each and every passing day and his tangents and boasts and attacks on the press and political opponents more akin to one of his rallies are not IMO helping the situation. But Trump loves the “ratingsâ€, you know he beat the Bachelor finale ratings don’t you? He even told us so.
When Bill Bryan of the Science and Technology Directorate at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was giving his presentation, he was talking about studies being done that “preliminarily†indicate that sunlight and the application of bleach and isopropyl alcohol and other disinfectants kill the virus on solid non-porous surfaces and the possible effect that heat and humidity has on the virus when it is aerosolized.
That’s when Trump went on his tangent, quoted here from the official White House transcript:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-vice-president-pence-members-coronavirus-task-force-press-briefing-31/
Note he is not seeming to say that this injection “inside†means cleaning indoor or outdoor spaces as he says “So, that, you’re going to have to use medical doctors withâ€. Why would you need medical doctors involved in disinfecting indoor or outdoor spaces or surfaces?
I watched it and re-watched it several times. At no point did this sound like Trump was being “sarcasticâ€.
It goes on where Bryan has to clarify several times and explain to Trump that hands are not a non-porous surface:
Bryan here doing the delicate dance that so many others have been forced to learn of correcting without contradicting the self-described stable genius who has a “knack for this stuffâ€.
As I understand from several reports, Trump does not attend the task force pre-briefing meetings where he could have these discussions with the task force and ask these questions and get answers and clarifications beforehand, and that he reads or more precisely skims the briefing material only just before the briefing. If Trump wants to “brainstorm†his “ideasâ€, that should be done behind closed doors before broadcasting his stream of consciousness on live TV. So what is he actually doing beforehand? Watching cable news and Tweeting of course.
FWIW – here is a clip. For one thing, does Trump seem to be “joking†or being “sarcastic� The other is the look on Dr. Birx face. I’ve seen it described as “the moment your soul leaves your body†and one person on Twitter that her blinking was perhaps her blinking out a Morse Code SOS distress call.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BalDN6iGYpE
Oh then there’s this:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/24/revealed-leader-group-peddling-bleach-cure-lobbied-trump-coronavirus
Not one to be content to just listen to (or read) accounts of things without checking further, I did a little digging
Disinfectant:
https://www.hollywoodlanews.com/hydrogen-peroxide-disinfectant-coronavirus-treatment/https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/hydrogen-peroxide-a-potential-treatment-for-coronavirus-infection/ar-BB12qktcNot injection, but inhalation of nebulized Hydrogen Peroxide (yes, it can also be used as a disinfectant) which shows promise in killing viruses, bacteria, and fungi. So, don't start mainlining Lysol.
UV light: (which may well have merit)
https://www.hollywoodlanews.com/uv-light-kills-coronavirus/peer reviewed on UV light
injection:
Ultraviolet Irradiation of Blood: “The Cure That Time Forgot�Adv Exp Med Biol. 2017 ; 996: 295–309. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-56017-5_25Yep, UV piped into a blood vessel and exposure of 3-5% of the patient's blood volume to UV. The purpose is to kill the viruses present, and the body builds antibodies to the dead viruses, much the same mechanism as it uses to build antibodies with a vaccine, only without adjuvants, squalene, and preservatives believed to cause many of the harmful side effects of vaccines. This was being researched in the '40s, but then the antibiotic and vaccine folks sort of pushed it aside. ($$$?) It is worth another look, especially in the age of fiber optics.
While Trump might not always express it just right, the ridicule of an ignorant press corps is worse. They aren't doctors, for the most part, either.
