US doctor caught grimacing on camera during Trump's disinfectant remarks downplays comments

Rebecca Speare-Cole27 April 2020

The leading US doctor who was caught on camera grimacing during Donald Trump's disinfectant remarks has avoided criticising the president as she sought to play down his comments.

Dr Deborah Birx, the president's coronavirus response coordinator, appeared horrified last week when he suggested injecting disinfectant as a possible Covid-19 treatment at the daily White House news briefing.

The US president quickly faced an onslaught of criticism as international health experts rushed to warn people not to drink or inject anything.

Mr Trump then tried to claim his comments were "sarcastic", adding that he made them, "just to see what would happen".

In a series of media appearances on Sunday, Dr Birx attempted to downplay his dangerous suggestion before cautioning that social distancing measures were likely to stay in place throughout the summer.

Speaking on CNN's State of the Union, she said she had “made it clear” to Mr Trump that injected disinfectant “was not a treatment”.

US President Donald Trump answers a question as Dr. Deborah Birx and HHS Under Secretary for Science and Technology William Bryan listen
REUTERS

But she also added that the president’s comments should be viewed as a “kind of dialogue" that inevitably happens between scientists and politicians.

When asked if she was bothered about the backlash against the president's remarks, she expressed frustration that Mr Trump's injection comments were still in the headlines.

Dr Birx said: “It bothers me that this is still in the news cycle, because I think we’re missing the bigger pieces of what we need to be doing as an American people to continue to protect one another.

“As a scientist and a public health official and a researcher, sometimes I worry that we don’t get the information to the American people that they need when we continue to bring up something that was from Thursday night.”

In a later appearance on NBC News, Dr Birx also responded to claims made by Vice-President Mike Pence that US would “largely have this coronavirus epidemic behind us” by Memorial Day, on May 25.

Dr Birx said that while downward trends in infections and deaths in certain locations such as Houston and Detroit “gives us great hope”, social distancing "will be with us through the summer”.

It comes as Mr Trump threatened to stop the daily coronavirus press briefings as the backlash continues.

He tweeted on Saturday: “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.​

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