Dr. Deborah Birx is defending the president’s thought process in response to some recent remarks he made that were widely circulated.
Birx serves on the White House Coronavirus Task Force and was at the press briefing where President Donald Trump suggested to scientists to investigate the use of light or disinfectant injections as potential treatments for the coronavirus, as IJR previously reported.
In an interview with Fox News on Friday, Birx said, “When he gets new information, he likes to talk that through out loud and really have that dialogue.”
She continued, “And so that’s what dialogue he was having. I think he just saw the information at the time, immediately before the press conference, and he was still digesting that information.”
See Birx’s comments below:
Dr. Birx defends the President: When he gets new information, he likes to talk that through out loud and really have that dialogue and so that’s what dialogue he was having. I think he just saw the information at the time immediately.. and he was still digesting that information pic.twitter.com/3XrNvs8UjX
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 24, 2020
Trump’s comments made at Thursday’s White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing were met with a lot of warnings, as health experts quickly dismissed his proposal.
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn told CNN, “We certainly wouldn’t want, as a physician, someone to take matters into their own hands. And no I certainly wouldn’t recommend the internal ingestion of a disinfectant.”
Additionally, some lawmakers criticized Trump in response, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who said during Friday’s press conference, “It’s a clear visible within 24 hours of how the Republicans reject science and reject governance.”
Dr. Trump on curing #coronavirus: Suppose if we hit the body with a tremendous light whether its ultraviolet or just a powerful light…[or] brought the light inside the body…the disinfectant [also] knocks it out, [so perhaps we could] inject it inside.”pic.twitter.com/2rtQdri7sC
— Louis Fishman لوي فيشمان לואי פישמן (@Istanbultelaviv) April 24, 2020
Here is Dr. Birx's reaction when President Trump asks his science advisor to study using UV light on the human body and injecting disinfectant to fight the coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/MVno5X7JMA
— Daniel Lewis (@Daniel_Lewis3) April 24, 2020
The White House issued a statement on Friday saying Trump’s remarks were taken “out of context.”
Additionally, the president himself sought to clarify his comments, as he told reporters on Friday in the Oval Office that he was being sarcastic, as IJR reported.
“I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen,” Trump said.
The president’s remarks still received some push back, including from MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski, who tweeted in response to Trump’s defense, “What about the part where you made Dr. Birx try and confirm your stupidity. And what about the part where you had the guy do a whole presentation… Sarcasm? Nope.”
See Trump’s comments below:
TRUMP: I was looking at you yesterday when I was being sarcastic about disinfectants
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 24, 2020
JEFF MASON: I wasn't there yesterday
ANOTHER REPORTER: You were looking at Dr Birx
TRUMP: I was looking at Bill, the doctor, I was looking at some of the reporters
*changes topic* pic.twitter.com/h8VxIknuey
A Twitter spokeswoman said on Friday that the video of Trump making the suggestion on Thursday did not violate the company’s policy regarding coronavirus misinformation, as IJR reported.
