Fox News Anchor Unconvinced Trump's Disinfectant Comments Were Sarcastic

President Donald Trump now claims he was being “sarcastic” when he suggested injecting people with disinfectant to fight off the coronavirus.

But at least one journalist at the normally Trump-friendly Fox News is skeptical.

On Friday, Bret Baier was asked whether he thought the president was really being sarcastic when he mentioned using disinfectant to kill the virus at a press briefing Thursday. Trump had asked, “Is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning? … It would be interesting to check that.”

Baier admitted the president did not appear to be joking when he said that.

“Well, that’s not how it looked in the briefing ... it didn’t seem like it was coming off as sarcastic when he was talking and turning to Dr. Birx on the side,” he said, referring to coronavirus task force coordinator Deborah Birx.

Baier then attempted to gently explain the problem with the president’s comments.

“What’s problematic for this president is sometimes he goes on these riffs,” he said, adding that while Trump’s improvisation may work on political topics, it’s not good for dealing with medical issues.

Baier also suggested the president’s claim may be a response to statements from both the FDA and the manufacturer of Lysol warning people not to ingest disinfectants.

“Obviously, this is his answer to all of that criticism, but the president does get himself into these issues,” Baier said. “I don’t think he wants to cause any harm to anyone ― obviously ― and no one at home thinks ‘Oh, you know what? I’m going to drink bleach,’ I don’t think. But it is something that he clearly stepped in here.”

You can see the exchange below.