Coronavirus: Donald Trump's 'Very Good Liquids' Remark During Pandemic Press Briefing Raises Eyebrows

As criticism begins to mount against The White House response to the coronavirus pandemic, [...]

By Andrew Roberts

As criticism begins to mount against The White House response to the coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump continues to bite back and make claims during daily press briefings that have many puzzled. As CNN points out, the president has gone against his experts many times, including the use of malaria drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to combat the virus.

This and other claims made by the president carry a mix of truth and fiction, possibly giving false hope to a scared populace while doctors scramble to make breakthroughs and save lives. The latest comment made by Trump fits a similar mold, where he suggested that healthcare professionals should sanitize and reuse masks instead of throwing them away in light of a shortage.

"I have to tell you, the throwing away of the masks, being in private business, the throwing away of the mask right away, they're throwing it away," Trump said on Saturday. "We have very good liquids for doing this, sanitizing the masks, and that that's something they're starting to do more and more. They're sanitizing the masks."

While the president isn't wrong about the ability to sanitize and reuse some masks, something Dr. Anthony Fauci acknowledged in his follow up comments, it is the language used that has folks confused. Particularly the "very good liquids" line.

"Just use all those 'very good liquids!' Problem solved!" one user wrote after the press conference.

"He wants doctors to 'dip them in very good liquids,'" another added.

"When the President suggested our medical providers should wash and reuse their face masks with 'very good liquids,' don't be surprised when we are in the same crisis that Italy is in," a third added while sharing a video out of an Italian hospital that shows patients filling every nook and cranny.

While Trump's claims are meant to calm Americans worried by the spread of the disease, it is joining a muddled pile of messaging about the disease that is confusing those seeking aid from the disease.

At the same time the government is urging people to self-quarantine and keep hands clean, some selling questionable items are claiming to cure the virus or report that the disease can be killed by using a blow dryer.

Many states are completely shutting down amid the rise in coronavirus cases. Trump and his coronavirus task force have promised to ramp up production of medical supplies amid frustrations across the country.

0comments
Start the Conversation

of