WATCH: Donald Trump to Philip Rucker: ‘I’m the President & You’re Fake News’

Donald Trump and Philip Rucker

Getty/Twitter Donald Trump and Philip Rucker

President Donald Trump took aim at Washington Post reporter Philip Rucker during Thursday’s White House Coronavirus Task Force Briefing. During the press conference, Trump spoke about the potential of warmer temperatures slowing down the spread of COVID-19. He also asked Dr. Deborah Birx, another member of the task force, to look into possibly using sunlight to kill the coronavirus.

During the press conference, Rucker said, “Respectfully sir, you’re the President and people tuning in to these briefings they want to get information and guidance, and want to know what to do. They’re not looking for rumors.”

Trump answered, “Hey Phil, I’m the President and you’re fake news. And you know what else I’ll say to you? I’ll say very nicely, I know you well. Because I know the guy, I see what he writes. He’s a total faker.” He then said that using sunlight and heat to kill the virus is just a suggestion.

The President said about the Department of Homeland Security’s Bill Bryan, “I’m just here to present talent. I’m here to present ideas because we want ideas to get rid of this thing. And if heat is good, and if sunlight is good, that’s a great thing as far as I’m concerned.”

A clip was shared on Twitter of the interaction between Trump and Rucker by journalist August Takala. Here is the video:


Trump Spoke About Potentially Injecting ‘Disinfectant’ to Kill COVID-19

During the briefing, Trump spoke about potentially using “disinfectant” to kill COVID-19 via injection.

“So supposing we hit the body with a tremendous, whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light, and I think you said that hasn’t been checked, but you’re going to test it?” Trump asked Birx.

Trump continued, “And then I said, [suppose] you brought the light inside the body, in which you can do, either through the skin or in some other way. And I think you said you’re going to test that too? Sounds interesting. Right and then I see the disinfectant knocks it out in a minute, one minute. Is there a way we can do something like that? By injection inside or almost a cleaning. As you know it gets inside the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that.”

It’s unclear at this moment what Trump meant by “disinfectant.” As he was speaking about sunlight, he may have continued his thought about using light and that it could act as a disinfectant. However, many people online took it as meaning actual disinfectant.


Tide Pods,’ ‘Injecting’ & Lysol Started Trending on Twitter

After Trump spoke about potentially injecting “disinfectant” to kill the COVID-19 coronavirus, multiple trends started up on Twitter. “Tide Pods” and “Injecting” both started trending on Twitter, as many chimed in about the issues with injecting disinfectant or light.

Dr. Euguene Gu reiterated that it is extremely unsafe to inject or ingest disinfecting products:

He said, “PLEASE do not inject anything into your body or ingest anything at all to kill the coronavirus. There is NO SUBSTANCE that will disinfect your body of the coronavirus from the inside. Don’t inject or drink bleach, soap, don’t do isopropyl alcohol, lysol, or ANYTHING WHATSOEVER.”

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