After inviting widespread criticism and ridicule over his remarks on irradiating Covid-19 patients with UV light or injecting them with household disinfectants in order to kill the contagion, US President Donald Trump announced that he would not hold any more press briefings.
'Not worth the time and effort'
Trump yet again slammed the media. He said in a tweet: "What is the purpose of having White House News Conferences when the Lamestream Media asks nothing but hostile questions, & then refuses to report the truth or facts accurately. They get record ratings, & the American people get nothing but Fake News. Not worth the time & effort!."
In an earlier tweet, he called "Lamestream media" "corrupt and sick!"
"Was just informed that the Fake News from the Thursday White House Press Conference had me speaking & asking questions of Dr. Deborah Birx. Wrong, I was speaking to our Laboratory expert, not Deborah, about sunlight etc. & the CoronaVirus. The Lamestream Media is corrupt & sick!."
What is Trump's UV light and disinfectant cure for coronavirus?
In his press briefing on Thursday, Trump said: "Then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks (the virus) out in a minute. One minute. 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".
After worldwide mockery, Trump said his comments were sarcastic in nature. "I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen," Trump told reporters at the Oval Office, The Hill reported. "I was asking a sarcastic and a very sarcastic question to the reporters in the room about disinfectant on the inside. 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," he added.
Following his Thursday's gaffe, Trump cut short his Friday's press briefing, which normally goes on for two hours, to just 19 minutes. And on Saturday, the White House did not hold one at all, AFP reported. Press briefings are an important part for Trump to talk about his policies and attack his critics and political rivals, given that political rallies are suspended in an election year, due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
