It’s been one year since former President Donald Trump suggested that scientists investigate the possibility of injecting people with disinfectants to cure the novel coronavirus, and one former Trump official tells Politico that they saw that particular public relations trainwreck coming from a mile away.
The former official, who insisted on anonymity in order to be candid, said they were wary of letting Trump talk at the daily coronavirus briefing on April 23rd, 2020 because he had just been briefed on how quickly disinfectant could kill the virus.
In fact, the official said they went so far as to implore fellow aides to stop the president from taking the podium.
“A few of us actually tried to stop it in the West Wing hallway,” they said. “I actually argued that President Trump wouldn’t have the time to absorb it and understand it. But I lost, and it went how it did.”
Another former Trump official tells Politico that many White House staffers secretly mocked Trump for rambling about the possibility of miracle bleach cures.
“People joked about it inside the White House like, ‘Are you drinking bleach and injecting sunlight?’ People were mocking it,” the official explained. “It honestly hurt. It was a credibility issue… It was hurting us even from an international standpoint, the credibility at the White House.”