Trump Suggests Injecting Disinfectant and UV Light Inside Body as COVID Treatments

During a White House coronavirus briefing on April 23, 2020, President Trump publicly speculated about treating COVID-19 by injecting disinfectant into the human body or inserting ultraviolet light internally, asking “is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning?” The dangerous, scientifically absurd suggestions—made in front of the nation during a pandemic that had already killed tens of thousands of Americans—prompted immediate warnings from medical experts, the U.S. Surgeon General, and even Lysol manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser, which issued an urgent statement warning against any internal use of disinfectant products. When confronted the next day, Trump implausibly claimed his remarks had been “sarcastic,” though no indication of sarcasm appeared in the briefing footage and he had specifically asked medical officials to research the proposals.

The Dangerous Speculation

Trump’s disinfectant comments came after Department of Homeland Security official William Bryan presented research showing that coronavirus survives for shorter periods on surfaces exposed to sunlight and disinfectants. Trump then began publicly speculating about whether these surface treatments could be applied internally to human bodies: “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.” He also proposed “supposing we hit the body with a tremendous, whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light” brought inside the body. Rather than being hypothetical questions, Trump specifically turned to officials and said “you’re going to test it,” indicating he expected medical research into these proposals.

Medical Community’s Horrified Response

Dr. Vin Gupta, a pulmonologist and NBC News contributor, called Trump’s notion “irresponsible and dangerous,” noting that “injecting or ingesting any type of cleansing product into the body” is “a common method that people utilize when they want to kill themselves.” The U.S. Surgeon General subsequently issued a warning urging Americans to consult healthcare providers before self-administering any treatment in response to the president’s comments. Reckitt Benckiser, manufacturer of Lysol and Dettol disinfectant products, felt compelled to issue an extraordinary public statement emphasizing that “under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route).” The fact that a cleaning product manufacturer had to issue emergency warnings because of presidential statements during a pandemic briefing represented an unprecedented crisis of public health leadership.

“Sarcasm” Defense and Refusal to Correct

Faced with universal condemnation from medical experts, Trump claimed on April 24 that his remarks had been “sarcastic”—stating “I was asking a sarcastic — and a very sarcastic question — to the reporters in the room about disinfectant on the inside.” However, the briefing footage shows no clear indicators of sarcasm; Trump appeared earnest in his speculation and specifically instructed officials to research the proposals. The “sarcasm” defense itself was extraordinary: if Trump was being sarcastic during a pandemic briefing about potential treatments, it suggested he was treating a national health emergency—with tens of thousands dead—as an opportunity for jokes at reporters’ expense. Neither explanation was acceptable: either the president genuinely didn’t understand why injecting disinfectant would be deadly (demonstrating catastrophic scientific ignorance), or he was making sarcastic remarks about fake cures during a pandemic briefing (demonstrating contempt for presidential responsibility during national crisis).

Significance

Trump’s April 23 disinfectant and UV light comments represented one of the most dangerous instances of presidential health misinformation in American history, requiring emergency interventions from medical professionals and cleaning product manufacturers to prevent Americans from poisoning themselves following the president’s speculation. The incident crystallized Trump’s fundamental unsuitability for pandemic leadership: his profound scientific ignorance, his compulsion to speculate publicly about subjects he didn’t understand, and his prioritization of appearing knowledgeable over deferring to actual medical experts. That the president felt entitled to muse about injecting disinfectant during a pandemic briefing—as if his uninformed speculation was as valuable as scientific expertise—demonstrated the narcissism and reckless disregard for public welfare that characterized his entire COVID-19 response. The subsequent “sarcasm” defense made the incident even worse, suggesting Trump viewed pandemic briefings as opportunities for scoring political points against reporters rather than as solemn occasions for providing accurate public health information to frightened Americans during the deadliest pandemic in a century. The disinfectant comments joined the long catalog of Trump’s pandemic failures—from calling it a “hoax” to falsely claiming testing was widely available—establishing a pattern of dangerous misinformation that undermined public health efforts and cost American lives.