Washington, Apr 25 (PTI) Trying to wriggle out of the backlash he received for his outlandish suggestions, US President Donald Trump has said that he was being "sarcastic" when he told his medical experts that they should consider using UV light, heat, or injecting disinfectants into the COVID-19 patients as a potential treatment.
Trump faced intense rebuke on Thursday for his far-fetched suggestion from health experts who urged people not to listen to the President's "dangerous" advice.
Doctors and the company that makes Lysol and Dettol warned that injecting or ingesting disinfectants was dangerous.
When Trump was asked about his comments during a bill signing on Friday, he said: "I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen".
"I was asking a sarcastic and a very sarcastic question to the reporters in the room about disinfectant on the inside," he said.
Trump suggested he was talking about disinfectants that can safely be rubbed on people's hands.
"But it does kill it, and it would kill it on the hands and that would make things much better. That was done in the form of a sarcastic question to the reporters," The Hill quoted Trump as saying.
When a journalist in the Oval Office pointed out that Trump had turned to experts next to the stage when he first raised the idea on Thursday, the president claimed he was asking those officials "whether or not sun and disinfectant on the hands can help us."
Trump on Thursday latched on to a presentation from the Department of Homeland Security for Science and Technology Under Secretary Bill Bryan who detailed initial findings that the coronavirus deteriorates more quickly when subjected to higher levels of heat, humidity and ultraviolet rays from the sun.
"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 said.
"And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside of the body, 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," he said.
Trump also asked if there was a way to use disinfectants on the body "by injection inside or almost a cleaning."
Asked later if it was irresponsible to give Americans the impression that going outside amid the pandemic would be safe based on the findings, Trump turned to Deborah Birx, a physician coordinating the White House response to the pandemic, and inquired about using the light and heat as a treatment.
"Deborah, have you ever heard of that? The heat and the light, relative to certain viruses, yes, but relative to this virus?"
"Not as a treatment. I mean, certainly ... when you have a fever, it helps your body respond. But not as I've not seen heat or light," Birx replied.
"I think it's a great thing to look at," Trump said.
The president's remarks were widely and quickly panned by medical experts, elected officials and private companies who warned Americans not to ingest chemicals.
Former Food and Drug Administration head Scott Gottlieb said there was "no circumstance" in which an individual should inject themselves with a disinfectant.
The company that makes Lysol also warned on Friday against ingesting its products.
The White House sought to pin the backlash on the media, issuing a statement that accused the press of taking Trump's remarks out of context.
"President Trump has repeatedly said that Americans should consult with medical doctors regarding coronavirus treatment, a point that he emphasised again during yesterday's briefing," press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said.
The US has reported over 890,524 COVID-19 cases and over 51,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
