Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan warned President Trump against spreading ‘misinformation and saying whatever ‘pops in your head’ at press conferences ‘ amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Hogan, the state’s top republican official, pushed back on remarks made by Trump and explained the irresponsibility of doing so in an interview with ABC’s This Week.
When asked about Trump’s controversial comments about injecting disinfectant to cure COVID-19, Hogan said Trump’s apparent tendency to float unconfirmed information sends a harmful message to Americans.
‘I think it’s really important, it’s been important to me since day one, about communicating very clearly on the facts because people listen to these press conferences,’ he said.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (right) appeared on ABC’s This Week and discussed recent comments made by President Trump
‘They listen when the governor holds a press conference, and they certainly pay attention when the president of the United States is standing there giving a press conference about something as serious as this worldwide pandemic.
‘And I think when misinformation comes out or you just say something that pops in your head, it does send a wrong message.’
The odd solution was first introduced by Trump during a daily briefing last week where addressed William Bryan, a senior Homeland Security science and technology advisor, about claims ultraviolet rays and heat have an impact on the pathogen.
Trump asked Bryan: ‘Supposing we hit the body with a tremendous, whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light? And I think you said, that hasn’t been checked but you’re going to test it.
President Donald Trump speaks about the coronavirus on Thursday, in a briefing that caused a PR nightmare for the White House over his comments about disinfectant as a coronavirus cure
‘And then I said supposing you brought the light inside the body which you can do either through the skin or in some other way. And I think you said you’re going to test that too. Sounds interesting,’ Trump said.
Then he pivoted to another possible treatment: ‘And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute, one minute, and is there a way we can do something like that?
‘By injection inside or almost a cleaning. As you see it gets in the lungs, and it does a tremendous number on the lungs.
‘So it would be interesting to check that,’ Trump said.
‘So that you’re going to have to use medical doctors. But it sounds interesting to me,’ he said.
Hogan then revealed that Trump’s comments caused ‘hundreds’ of calls from Maryland residents asking if they should ingest cleaning products.
‘We had hundreds of calls come into our emergency hotline at our health department asking if it was right to ingest Clorox or alcohol cleaning products, whether that was going to help them fight the virus,’ he said.
Hogan (pictured) said the state had received ‘hundreds’ of calls ‘asking if it was right to ingest Clorox or alcohol cleaning products, whether that was going to help them fight the virus’
On Friday, the Maryland Emergency Management Agency put out a warning telling residents ‘that under no circumstances should any disinfectant product be administered into the body through injection, ingestion or any other route’
Hogan said Trump’s comments forced his government to act.
‘So we have to put out that warning to make sure that people were not doing something like that which would kill people actually to do it,’ Hogan told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos.
On Friday, the Maryland Emergency Management Agency sent out a tweet telling people ‘that under no circumstances should any disinfectant product be administered into the body through injection, ingestion or any other route.’
Hogan (pictured): And I think when misinformation comes out or you just say something that pops in your head, it does send a wrong message
Stephanopoulos asked the governor how he explained Trump doing something like that.
‘I can’t really explain it, George,’ Hogan replied. ‘Look, I think the president’s got to focus on the message, stick to the message and make sure that these press conferences are fact-based.’
‘I think other people in the administration have been trying to make that clear to him as well,’ Hogan continued.
‘We saw a different kind of a press conference yesterday which I think may be showing that there’s going to be a different trend in the future,’ the Republican added.
The fallout from Trump’s comments have been swift and severe.
Trump received swift backlash from public health experts, the CDC and Twitter users who lambasted him for propping dangerous – and unfounded – cures into the public spotlight.
The White House pushed back at the criticism and said Trump was being ‘very sarcastic’ when he asked officials to consider the disinfectant route.
‘I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen,’ the president said in regards to his comments.
On Friday, Trump walked-off during the daily briefing in a fit of annoyance following the debacle.
White House aids have reportedly discussed curtailing the president’s role in daily briefings after a heap of bad press following Trump’s comments.
This weekend he tweeted that he would stop holding the briefings because he didn’t like the press coverage he was receiving in the aftermath of making the confused comments.
‘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!’ Trump wrote.
Trump vented about his frustrations with the media on Twitter
Trump (center) claimed his remarks about disinfectants were ‘sarcastic’ and taken out of context
Dr. Deborah Birx. a public health expert on the White House’s coronavirus task force, defended Trump Sunday in an interview with CNN’s State of the Union.
‘Well, I think it bothers me that this is still in the news cycle,’ Birx said of the disinfectant comments.
‘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,’ she said on CNN.
In a separate interview with CBS News’ Face the Nation, Hogan said the president’s daily briefings were still valuable despite his earlier comments.
‘Having briefings to inform the public of what’s going on is important. I’d hate to see that stop,’ he said.