Following ‘injection’ of disinfectant to beat coronavirus remarks, advisers urge Trump to skip daily briefings

Advisers of U.S. President Donald Trump are trying to convince him to agree to a different structure for the daily coronavirus briefings that have become both a source of comfort to, and a source of self-destruction for, the president.

The calls had been going on for some time, but just came to a head following Trump’s Thursday briefing, when he drew widespread criticism for suggesting light, heat, and injecting disinfectants could be used to treat coronavirus patients.

Doctors described such suggestions as dangerous and irresponsible, while state and local government agencies as well as disinfectant manufacturers warned the products should not be ingested or injected.

Trump tried walking back the comments earlier Friday, saying his suggestions had been “sarcastic” and misinterpreted by the media.

Trump made his controversial remark after Bill Bryan, who heads the Department of Homeland Security’s science and technology division, gave a presentation on research his team has conducted that says that the virus doesn’t live as long in warmer and more humid temperatures.

Bryan said: “The virus dies quickest in sunlight,” leaving the U.S. president to wonder whether you could bring the light “inside the body.”

“So supposing we hit the body with a tremendous — whether it’s ultraviolet or just a very powerful light — and I think you said that hasn’t been checked because of the testing,” Trump added, speaking to Bryan during the briefing.

“And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or some other way, and I think you said you’re going to test that, too.”

Advisers hope that either to restrict the number of times Trump would appear at the briefing, or to have him leave without taking questions, a person familiar with the discussions told Axios.