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Lysol, the CDC, and even Burger King tweet not to drink disinfectant after Trump's comments

Don't drink bleach, people.

Morgan Sung

on April 24, 2020

After the president's suggestion that ingesting cleaning products or applying a "very powerful light" to the body to kill the coronavirus, Lysol, the Centers for Disease Control, lawmakers, doctors, and Twitter users warned people not to do so.

"I see the disinfectant where it knocks [the coronavirus] out in a minute, one minute," Trump said during the daily White House coronavirus briefing on Thursday. "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. So it'd be interesting to check that."

No, it wouldn't. And by Friday, Lysol, the CDC, and others stepped in to emphasize that you should not drink or inject disinfectant.

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The CDC tweeted, "Household cleaners and disinfectants can cause health problems when not used properly." While Lysol took a more firm stance in response to "recent speculation and social media activity."

"As a global leader in health and hygiene products, we must be clear that under no circumstances should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion, or any other route.)"

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When pressed about the remark during a bill signing on Friday, Trump claimed, "I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen." He also left Friday's briefing without taking questions from the press.

Democratic lawmakers and political candidates also reminded Americans that contrary to the president's "sarcastic" remark, injecting cleaning products is not a preventative measure for avoiding COVID-19.