A Foolish Remark !

When the speaker is the President of the United Sates, what he says is expected to be taken seriously. Donald Trump now says he was being sarcastic when he suggested people could protect themselves from the Coronavirus by injecting themselves with disinfectant.

In fact, Trump's on air remarks were directed at Dorothy Birx, the physician who coordinates the White House Coronavirus response and Bill Bryan, an official from the Department of Home Security.  That remark could have been interpreted as an official response by a potential audience of over three hundred million people.

The medical community was swift to issue a disclaimer.  Injecting a disinfectant does not kill Coronavirus and the most likely outcome is a slow and painful death.  The makers of disinfectant such as Dettol were quick to distance themselves from the president's claim.  One of the problems is that Trump is held in such awe by his fervent supporters that some may take that remark as a command.  The outcome could be tragic.

The United States is paying a steep price for a slow response when this pandemic burst onto the world.  The death toll from the virus has passed fifty thousand people and shows no sign of slowing. With that sort of mortality it is no wonder that the president's remarks could be taken seriously.  As soon as the president went to air the nation's emergency 911 hotline swamped with calls seeking advice.

This is an election year and Trump is seeking another four years in the White House.  It is likely that his opponent will be Joe Biden who sought to capitalize on that foolish remark by issuing his own statement with a tweet saying " I can't believe I have to say this, but please do not drink bleach " !

Four years into the job of president and Donald Trump is still having problems separating the responsibility of office with the freedom he enjoyed as a tycoon movie star and building developer.
He has still not filled many department head posts vacant when he won office and his administration has been a shambles with constant firings and resignations.  The whole world will be watching that election in November with bated breath.

The office of President of the United States was synonymous with that of " world leader ".  It is doubtful if Trump rose to the expected level in that role. This coming November the voters will decide if he deserved another term of office.