🕷️ Crawler Inspector

URL Lookup

Direct Parameter Lookup

Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 84 (from laksa164)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa084.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/26/us/politics/trump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/26/us/politics/trump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/26\/us\/politics\/trump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html","crawl_time":1771048404,"first_indexed_time":1587993352,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,nytimes!www,\/2020\/04\/26\/us\/politics\/trump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html s443","src_root_hash":"4566504020376537684","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"Trump’s Disinfectant Remark Raises a Question About the ‘Very Stable Genius’ - The New York Times","meta_descriptions":["The president has often said he is exceptionally smart. His recent suggestion about injecting disinfectants was not."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"Advertisement\nSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\nPolitical Memo\nThe president has often said he is exceptionally smart. His recent suggestion about injecting disinfectants was not.\nPresident Trump suggested on Thursday that an “injection inside” the body with a disinfectant like bleach could help fight the coronavirus.\nCredit...\nAl Drago for The New York Times\nApril 26, 2020\nPresident Trump’s self-assessment has been consistent.\n“I’m, like, a very smart person,” he assured voters in 2016.\n“A very stable genius,” he ruled two years later.\n“I’m not a doctor,” he allowed on Thursday, pointing to his skull inside the White House briefing room, “but I’m, like, a person that has a good you-know-what.”\nMr. Trump’s performance that evening, when he\nsuggested that injections of disinfectants\ninto the human body could help combat the coronavirus, did not sound like the work of a doctor, a genius, or a person with a good you-know-what.\nEven by the turbulent standards of this president, his musings on virus remedies have landed with uncommon force, drawing widespread condemnation as dangerous to the health of Americans and inspiring a near-universal alarm that many of his past remarks — whether offensive or fear-mongering or simply untrue — did not.\nMr. Trump’s typical name-calling can be recast to receptive audiences as mere “counterpunching.” His impeachment was explained away as the dastardly opus of overreaching Democrats. It is more difficult to insist that the man floating disinfectant injection knows what he’s doing.\nThe reaction has so rattled the president’s allies and advisers that he was compelled over the weekend to\nremove himself from the pandemic briefings\nentirely, at least temporarily accepting two fates he loathes: giving in to advice (from Republicans who said the appearances\ndid far more harm than good\nto his political standing) and surrendering the mass viewership he relishes.\nSome at the White House have expressed frustration that the issue has lingered. “It bothers me that this is still in the news cycle,” Dr. Deborah Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator, told CNN on Sunday, adding, “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.”\nGov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, a Republican who has been willing to speak skeptically about Mr. Trump’s virus leadership, said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that it “does send a wrong message” when misinformation spreads from a public official or “you just say something that pops in your head.” Asked to explain the president’s words, Mr. Hogan said, “You know, I can’t really explain it.”\nNo modern American politician can match Mr. Trump’s record of\nfalse\nor\nillogical\nstatements, which has invited questions about his intelligence. Insinuations and gaffes have trailed former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Dan Quayle and\nJoseph R. Biden Jr.\n, now the presumptive Democratic nominee, among many others. But Mr. Trump’s stark pronouncement — on live television, amid a grave public health crisis, and leaving little room for interpretation — was at once in a class of its own and wholly consistent with a reputation for carelessness in speech.\nImage\nA spokesman for Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s campaign called the Trump team’s effort to portray Mr. Biden as doddering “a distraction tactic.” \nCredit...\nErin Schaff\/The New York Times\nStill, for weeks, the president’s political team has been strikingly explicit about its intended messaging against Mr. Biden: presenting him as a doddering 77-year-old not up to the rigors of the office — and setting off on the kind of whisper campaign that does not bother with whispers.\nA Trump campaign Twitter account on Saturday celebrated the anniversary of Mr. Biden’s 2020 bid by highlighting all that he had “forgotten” as a candidate, with corresponding video clips of momentary flubs and verbal stumbles: “Joe Biden forgot the name of the coronavirus.” “Joe Biden forgot the G7 was not the G8.” “Joe Biden forgot Super Tuesday was on a Tuesday.”\nOn Sunday, the Trump campaign made clear that the disinfectant affair would not disrupt its plans. “Joe Biden is often lost,” said Tim Murtaugh, a Trump campaign spokesman, “losing his train of thought during friendly interviews, even when he relies on written notes in front of him.”\nT.J. Ducklo, a Biden spokesman, called this approach “a distraction tactic — as if anything could erase the memory of the president suggesting people drink disinfectant on national television.”\nCarlos Curbelo, a Republican former Florida congressman who clashed at times with Mr. Trump and did not vote for him, said the president’s comments on disinfectants were likely to resonate precisely because he was running a race premised largely on Mr. Biden’s mental capacity.\n“Given Joe Biden’s gaffes and mistakes, I think the Trump campaign had a strong narrative there,” he said. “At the very least, that advantage was completely erased.”\nMr. Curbelo said a friend had suggested recently that Mr. Trump’s toxic virus idea was “the craziest thing he ever said.”\n“I said, ‘I don’t know,’” Mr. Curbelo recalled. “‘Maybe. I’d have to look back and check.’”\nThis history, of course, is the argument for Democratic caution. The list of episodes that were supposed to end Mr. Trump — the “Access Hollywood” tape, the “very fine people” on both sides of a white supremacist rally, insulting John McCain’s service as a prisoner of war — is longer than most voters’ memories.\nThe president can register as more\ntime-bending\nthan Teflon. Plenty sticks to him; it just tends to be buried quickly enough by the next stack of outrages, limiting the exposure of any single one.\nBut if most Trump admirers have long since made up their minds about him, recent polling on his handling of the crisis does suggest some measure of electoral risk. Governors and public health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci are viewed as far more trustworthy on the pandemic, according to surveys.\nImage\nDrs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, the top public health officials overseeing the federal response to the coronavirus, have struggled at times to clarify Mr. Trump’s off-the-cuff statements.\nCredit...\nDoug Mills\/The New York Times\nLily Adams, a former aide on the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, who is now advising Unite the Country, a pro-Biden super PAC, said that swing voters in focus groups were especially dismayed at Mr. Trump’s refusal to listen to experts.\n“Any person who has ever done a load of laundry, or installed a childproof lock on a cleaning supplies cabinet, or just looked at one of those skulls on the label, knows it’s an idiotic idea,” she said.\nEven some of the president’s reliable cheerleaders at Fox News have\nnot tried\nto defend him. And recent visitors to the Drudge Report — the powerful conservative news aggregation site whose proprietor, Matt Drudge, has increasingly ridiculed Mr. Trump of late — were greeted with a doctored image of “Clorox Chewables.” “Trump Recommended,” the tagline read. “Don’t Die Maybe!”\nFor Mr. Trump, such mockery tends to singe. Since long before his 2016 campaign, few subjects have been as meaningful to him as appraisals of his intellect.\nIt is a source of perpetual obsession and manifest insecurity, former aides say, so much so that Mr. Trump has felt the need to allude to his brainpower regularly: tales of his academic credentials at the University of Pennsylvania; his “natural ability” in complicated disciplines; his connection to a “super genius” uncle,\nan engineer\nwho taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.\nWhen Rex Tillerson, the president’s first secretary of state, was\nreported\nto have called Mr. Trump a “moron” in private — one of several former senior administration officials said to have rendered equivalent verdicts — Mr. Trump challenged him to “compare I.Q. tests.” A favorite Trump insult on Twitter,\nreserved for Mr. Biden\namong others, is “low I.Q. individual.”\n“He doesn’t want to feel like anybody is better than he is,” said Barbara A. Res, a former executive vice president of the Trump Organization, who recalled Mr. Trump bragging about his college grades. “He can’t deal with that. I can see it now with the doctors, and that’s why he dismisses them. He used to be intimidated by lawyers. Anyone who knows more than he does makes him feel less than he is.”\nSteve Schmidt, a former Republican strategist and prominent Trump critic, said the president’s meditation on disinfectants stood apart from a trope that Mr. Schmidt came to recognize as an adviser to conservatives like Mr. Bush: “that the conservative candidate in the race was also always portrayed as the dumb candidate.”\n“But a caricature is distinct from a narrative,” Mr. Schmidt said. And Mr. Trump’s reckless medical fare, he reasoned, had given adversaries a narrative by confirming a caricature.\nThe president’s own\nattempts at damage control\nhave been scattershot. First, his new press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, accused the news media of taking Mr. Trump out of context. Shortly afterward, he undercut her case by saying his comments had in fact been a sarcastic prank on reporters, an explanation even some supporters found implausible.\nHe left his Friday briefing on the coronavirus without taking questions. By Saturday, when Mr. Trump tweeted that the events were “\nnot worth the time & effort\n,” his opponents conceded this much:\nThe president had probably done something smart.\nMatt Flegenheimer\nis a reporter covering national politics. He started at The Times in 2011 on the Metro desk covering transit, City Hall and campaigns.\nA version of this article appears in print on\nApril 27, 2020\n, Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: A Disinfectant That May Mar Trump’s Teflon\n.\nOrder Reprints\n|\nToday’s Paper\n|\nSubscribe\nRelated Content\nMore in Politics\nCaitlin O'Hara for The New York Times\nElizabeth Frantz for The New York Times\nTierney L. Cross\/The New York Times\nEric Lee for The New York Times, Greg Kahn for The New York Times\nEditors’ Picks\nBrian Rea\nJennelle Fong for The New York Times\nTrending in The Times\nLucia Vazquez for The New York Times\nNicolas Ortega\nJohn Taggart for The New York Times\nWarner Bros. Pictures\nJon Elswick\/Associated Press\nBrian Blomerth\nMichael Buholzer\/EPA, via Shutterstock\nAndreas Meichsner for The New York Times\nThe New York Times\nJulia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.\nAdvertisement\nSKIP ADVERTISEMENT","attrs_markdown":"[Skip to content](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/26\/us\/politics\/trump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html#site-content)[Skip to site index](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/26\/us\/politics\/trump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html#site-index)\n\nSearch & Section Navigation\n\nSection Navigation\n\nSearch\n\n[Politics](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/politics)\n\n[Log in](https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fsubscription%2Fonboarding-offer%3FcampaignId%3D7JFJX%26EXIT_URI%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.nytimes.com%252F2020%252F04%252F26%252Fus%252Fpolitics%252Ftrump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html&asset=masthead)\n\nSaturday, February 14, 2026\n\n[Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper)\n\nTrump Administration\n\n- live[Updates](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2026\/02\/13\/us\/trump-news)\n  \n  Feb. 14, 2026, 12:48 a.m. ET5m ago\n- [How Trump Sees the World](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2026\/02\/11\/us\/trump-foreign-policy-world-quotes.html)\n- [Epstein Fallout](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/10\/us\/politics\/trump-epstein.html)\n- [El Paso Airspace](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/11\/us\/el-paso-airspace-shutdown-what-to-know.html)\n- [Whistle-Blower Report](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/12\/us\/politics\/kushner-gabbard-iran-intelligence.html)\n- [Tariff Tracker](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2025\/07\/28\/business\/economy\/trump-tariff-tracker.html)\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/26\/us\/politics\/trump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html#after-top)\n\nSupported by\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/26\/us\/politics\/trump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html#after-sponsor)\n\nPolitical Memo\n\n# Trump’s Disinfectant Remark Raises a Question About the ‘Very Stable Genius’\nThe president has often said he is exceptionally smart. His recent suggestion about injecting disinfectants was not.\n\n- Share full article\n- 1\\.8k\n\n![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2020\/04\/28\/us\/politics\/26virus-disinfectant-memo\/merlin_171872820_ac94b047-74a7-459d-98c5-df7778586e2a-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nPresident Trump suggested on Thursday that an “injection inside” the body with a disinfectant like bleach could help fight the coronavirus.Credit...Al Drago for The New York Times\n\n[![Matt Flegenheimer](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2018\/10\/02\/multimedia\/author-matt-flegenheimer\/author-matt-flegenheimer-thumbLarge.png)](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/matt-flegenheimer)\n\nBy [Matt Flegenheimer](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/matt-flegenheimer)\n\nApril 26, 2020\n\nPresident Trump’s self-assessment has been consistent.\n\n“I’m, like, a very smart person,” he assured voters in 2016.\n\n“A very stable genius,” he ruled two years later.\n\n“I’m not a doctor,” he allowed on Thursday, pointing to his skull inside the White House briefing room, “but I’m, like, a person that has a good you-know-what.”\n\nMr. Trump’s performance that evening, when he [suggested that injections of disinfectants](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/24\/us\/politics\/trump-inject-disinfectant-bleach-coronavirus.html) into the human body could help combat the coronavirus, did not sound like the work of a doctor, a genius, or a person with a good you-know-what.\n\nEven by the turbulent standards of this president, his musings on virus remedies have landed with uncommon force, drawing widespread condemnation as dangerous to the health of Americans and inspiring a near-universal alarm that many of his past remarks — whether offensive or fear-mongering or simply untrue — did not.\n\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2020\/04\/22\/autossell\/trumpgrid\/trumpgrid-articleLarge.png)260,000 Words, Full of Self-Praise, From Trump on the Virus Three journalists from The New York Times reviewed more than 260,000 words spoken by President Trump during the pandemic. Here’s what we learned.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2020\/04\/26\/us\/politics\/trump-coronavirus-briefings-analyzed.html)\n\nMr. Trump’s typical name-calling can be recast to receptive audiences as mere “counterpunching.” His impeachment was explained away as the dastardly opus of overreaching Democrats. It is more difficult to insist that the man floating disinfectant injection knows what he’s doing.\n\nThe reaction has so rattled the president’s allies and advisers that he was compelled over the weekend to [remove himself from the pandemic briefings](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/25\/us\/coronavirus-news.html) entirely, at least temporarily accepting two fates he loathes: giving in to advice (from Republicans who said the appearances [did far more harm than good](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/25\/us\/politics\/trump-election-briefings.html) to his political standing) and surrendering the mass viewership he relishes.\n\nSome at the White House have expressed frustration that the issue has lingered. “It bothers me that this is still in the news cycle,” Dr. Deborah Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator, told CNN on Sunday, adding, “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.”\n\nGov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, a Republican who has been willing to speak skeptically about Mr. Trump’s virus leadership, said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that it “does send a wrong message” when misinformation spreads from a public official or “you just say something that pops in your head.” Asked to explain the president’s words, Mr. Hogan said, “You know, I can’t really explain it.”\n\n## Editors’ Picks\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/11\/multimedia\/wuthering-heights-glhb\/wuthering-heights-glhb-thumbLarge.jpg)10 New Movies Our Critics Are Talking About This Week](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/13\/movies\/new-movies-this-week-critics.html)\n\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/11\/multimedia\/11FD-Appetite-shrimp-rice-promo-gwtv\/11FD-Appetite-shrimp-rice-promo-gwtv-thumbLarge.jpg)This Sheet-Pan Shrimp and Rice Is Extremely Nice](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/11\/dining\/sheet-pan-shrimp-fried-rice-easy-dinner.html)\n\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/12\/multimedia\/08ST-YOUNG-AI-01-mqvh\/08ST-YOUNG-AI-01-mqvh-thumbLarge.jpg)These A.I. Dreamers Don’t Fit the Stereotype](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/08\/style\/ai-tech-san-francisco.html)\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/26\/us\/politics\/trump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html#after-pp_edpick)\n\nNo modern American politician can match Mr. Trump’s record of [false](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/fact-checks) or [illogical](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2019\/11\/02\/us\/politics\/trump-twitter-presidency.html) statements, which has invited questions about his intelligence. Insinuations and gaffes have trailed former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Dan Quayle and [Joseph R. Biden Jr.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2020\/us\/elections\/joe-biden.html), now the presumptive Democratic nominee, among many others. But Mr. Trump’s stark pronouncement — on live television, amid a grave public health crisis, and leaving little room for interpretation — was at once in a class of its own and wholly consistent with a reputation for carelessness in speech.\n\nImage\n\n![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2020\/04\/26\/us\/politics\/26virus-disinfectant-memo-03\/26virus-disinfectant-memo-03-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nA spokesman for Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s campaign called the Trump team’s effort to portray Mr. Biden as doddering “a distraction tactic.” Credit...Erin Schaff\/The New York Times\n\nStill, for weeks, the president’s political team has been strikingly explicit about its intended messaging against Mr. Biden: presenting him as a doddering 77-year-old not up to the rigors of the office — and setting off on the kind of whisper campaign that does not bother with whispers.\n\nA Trump campaign Twitter account on Saturday celebrated the anniversary of Mr. Biden’s 2020 bid by highlighting all that he had “forgotten” as a candidate, with corresponding video clips of momentary flubs and verbal stumbles: “Joe Biden forgot the name of the coronavirus.” “Joe Biden forgot the G7 was not the G8.” “Joe Biden forgot Super Tuesday was on a Tuesday.”\n\nOn Sunday, the Trump campaign made clear that the disinfectant affair would not disrupt its plans. “Joe Biden is often lost,” said Tim Murtaugh, a Trump campaign spokesman, “losing his train of thought during friendly interviews, even when he relies on written notes in front of him.”\n\nT.J. Ducklo, a Biden spokesman, called this approach “a distraction tactic — as if anything could erase the memory of the president suggesting people drink disinfectant on national television.”\n\n## [Trump Administration: Live Updates](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2026\/02\/13\/us\/trump-news)\nUpdated\n\nFeb. 13, 2026, 10:44 p.m. ET2 hours ago\n\n- [Three federal officers injured in Los Angeles protests.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2026\/02\/13\/us\/trump-news#dhs-ice-agents-injured)\n- [Trump files final plans for the White House ballroom.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2026\/02\/13\/us\/trump-news#trump-files-final-plans-for-white-house-ballroom)\n- [Judge orders ICE to let clergy provide ashes and communion to detained immigrants.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2026\/02\/13\/us\/trump-news#ice-detention-catholics-ash-wednesday)\n\nCarlos Curbelo, a Republican former Florida congressman who clashed at times with Mr. Trump and did not vote for him, said the president’s comments on disinfectants were likely to resonate precisely because he was running a race premised largely on Mr. Biden’s mental capacity.\n\n“Given Joe Biden’s gaffes and mistakes, I think the Trump campaign had a strong narrative there,” he said. “At the very least, that advantage was completely erased.”\n\nMr. Curbelo said a friend had suggested recently that Mr. Trump’s toxic virus idea was “the craziest thing he ever said.”\n\n“I said, ‘I don’t know,’” Mr. Curbelo recalled. “‘Maybe. I’d have to look back and check.’”\n\nThis history, of course, is the argument for Democratic caution. The list of episodes that were supposed to end Mr. Trump — the “Access Hollywood” tape, the “very fine people” on both sides of a white supremacist rally, insulting John McCain’s service as a prisoner of war — is longer than most voters’ memories.\n\nThe president can register as more [time-bending](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/12\/29\/us\/politics\/trump-news-overload.html) than Teflon. Plenty sticks to him; it just tends to be buried quickly enough by the next stack of outrages, limiting the exposure of any single one.\n\nBut if most Trump admirers have long since made up their minds about him, recent polling on his handling of the crisis does suggest some measure of electoral risk. Governors and public health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci are viewed as far more trustworthy on the pandemic, according to surveys.\n\nImage\n\n![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2020\/04\/26\/us\/politics\/26virus-disinfectant-memo-02\/26virus-disinfectant-memo-02-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nDrs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, the top public health officials overseeing the federal response to the coronavirus, have struggled at times to clarify Mr. Trump’s off-the-cuff statements.Credit...Doug Mills\/The New York Times\n\nLily Adams, a former aide on the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, who is now advising Unite the Country, a pro-Biden super PAC, said that swing voters in focus groups were especially dismayed at Mr. Trump’s refusal to listen to experts.\n\n“Any person who has ever done a load of laundry, or installed a childproof lock on a cleaning supplies cabinet, or just looked at one of those skulls on the label, knows it’s an idiotic idea,” she said.\n\nEven some of the president’s reliable cheerleaders at Fox News have [not tried](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/24\/business\/media\/virus-fox-trump-disinfectant.html) to defend him. And recent visitors to the Drudge Report — the powerful conservative news aggregation site whose proprietor, Matt Drudge, has increasingly ridiculed Mr. Trump of late — were greeted with a doctored image of “Clorox Chewables.” “Trump Recommended,” the tagline read. “Don’t Die Maybe!”\n\nFor Mr. Trump, such mockery tends to singe. Since long before his 2016 campaign, few subjects have been as meaningful to him as appraisals of his intellect.\n\nIt is a source of perpetual obsession and manifest insecurity, former aides say, so much so that Mr. Trump has felt the need to allude to his brainpower regularly: tales of his academic credentials at the University of Pennsylvania; his “natural ability” in complicated disciplines; his connection to a “super genius” uncle, [an engineer](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1985\/02\/26\/us\/john-trump-dies-engineer-was-78.html) who taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.\n\nWhen Rex Tillerson, the president’s first secretary of state, was [reported](https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/white-house\/tillerson-s-fury-trump-required-intervention-pence-n806451) to have called Mr. Trump a “moron” in private — one of several former senior administration officials said to have rendered equivalent verdicts — Mr. Trump challenged him to “compare I.Q. tests.” A favorite Trump insult on Twitter, [reserved for Mr. Biden](https:\/\/twitter.com\/realDonaldTrump\/status\/1107631297076305920) among others, is “low I.Q. individual.”\n\n“He doesn’t want to feel like anybody is better than he is,” said Barbara A. Res, a former executive vice president of the Trump Organization, who recalled Mr. Trump bragging about his college grades. “He can’t deal with that. I can see it now with the doctors, and that’s why he dismisses them. He used to be intimidated by lawyers. Anyone who knows more than he does makes him feel less than he is.”\n\nSteve Schmidt, a former Republican strategist and prominent Trump critic, said the president’s meditation on disinfectants stood apart from a trope that Mr. Schmidt came to recognize as an adviser to conservatives like Mr. Bush: “that the conservative candidate in the race was also always portrayed as the dumb candidate.”\n\n“But a caricature is distinct from a narrative,” Mr. Schmidt said. And Mr. Trump’s reckless medical fare, he reasoned, had given adversaries a narrative by confirming a caricature.\n\nThe president’s own [attempts at damage control](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/24\/us\/politics\/trump-inject-disinfectant-bleach-coronavirus.html) have been scattershot. First, his new press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, accused the news media of taking Mr. Trump out of context. Shortly afterward, he undercut her case by saying his comments had in fact been a sarcastic prank on reporters, an explanation even some supporters found implausible.\n\nHe left his Friday briefing on the coronavirus without taking questions. By Saturday, when Mr. Trump tweeted that the events were “[not worth the time & effort](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/25\/us\/coronavirus-news.html),” his opponents conceded this much:\n\nThe president had probably done something smart.\n\nMore on President Trump and the Coronavirus\n\n[![]()Trump Muses About Light as Remedy, but Also Disinfectant, Which Is Dangerous April 24, 2020](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/24\/health\/sunlight-coronavirus-trump.html)\n\n[![]()Nervous Republicans See Trump Sinking, and Taking Senate With Him April 25, 2020](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/25\/us\/politics\/trump-election-briefings.html)\n\n[![]()He Could Have Seen What Was Coming: Behind Trump’s Failure on the Virus April 11, 2020](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/11\/us\/politics\/coronavirus-trump-response.html)\n\n[Matt Flegenheimer](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/matt-flegenheimer) is a reporter covering national politics. He started at The Times in 2011 on the Metro desk covering transit, City Hall and campaigns.\n\nA version of this article appears in print on April 27, 2020, Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: A Disinfectant That May Mar Trump’s Teflon. [Order Reprints](https:\/\/nytimes.wrightsmedia.com\/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscriptions\/Multiproduct\/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY)\n\nSee more on: [Donald Trump](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/donald-trump), [U.S. Politics](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/politics)\n\nRead 1,789 comments\n\n- Share full article\n- 1\\.8k\n\n***\n## The Latest on the Trump Administration\n***\n- **Aircraft Carrier to Middle East:** The U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford and its escort ships [will leave the Caribbean](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/12\/us\/politics\/uss-ford-venezuela-oil.html) and join the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group as part of President Trump’s resurgent pressure campaign against Iran’s leaders.\n- **Power of Public Anger:** The Trump administration’s pullback of immigration agents in Minnesota came as polls [showed Americans opposing the president’s tactics](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/13\/us\/politics\/trump-minneapolis-ice-republicans.html), and as some Republican lawmakers began to find ways to distance themselves.\n- **Pardoning Ex-N.F.L. Players:** [Trump pardoned five former athletes](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/12\/us\/politics\/trump-nfl-pardons-klecko-jamal-lewis.html), including Super Bowl champions, a Hall of Famer and a Heisman Trophy winner, for crimes ranging from perjury to drug trafficking.\n- **Public Health Funds:** A judge in Illinois [blocked the Trump administration’s plan to claw back \\$600 million](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/12\/us\/politics\/trump-health-funding-cuts-ruling.html) in funds from four states led by Democrats, amid a wider effort by the U.S. government to pull funding from blue states.\n- **Partial Government Shutdown:** A lapse in funding for the Department of Homeland Security probably won’t bring immigration enforcement operations to a screeching halt, [but it is also home to other agencies](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/12\/us\/politics\/dhs-shutdown-impact-ice-tsa-coast-guard.html), including the Coast Guard and FEMA.\n- **Attack on Climate Regulation:** The Trump administration [has repealed the scientific determination that underpins the government’s legal authority](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/12\/climate\/trump-epa-greenhouse-gases-climate-change.html) to combat climate change. [Here’s what to know](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/12\/climate\/what-to-know-epa-endangerment-finding.html).\n***\n**How We Report on the Trump Administration**\n\nHundreds of readers asked about our coverage of the president. Times editors and reporters [responded to some of the most common questions](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/06\/insider\/how-the-new-york-times-reports-on-trump.html).\n\n## Related Content\n### [More in Politics](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/politics)\n- [Top Republican Ends Bid for Arizona Governor, Showing MAGA’s Power](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/12\/us\/politics\/karrin-taylor-robson-andy-biggs-arizona-governor.html)\n  \n  ![Karrin Taylor Robson had earned President Trump’s early endorsement, but he later also bestowed his support to Representative Andy Biggs, a member of the hard-line Freedom Caucus.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/12\/multimedia\/pol-taylor-robson-tmpc\/pol-taylor-robson-tmpc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Caitlin O'Hara for The New York Times\n- [Trump Nominates an Apostle of ‘White Erasure’ for the State Department](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/13\/us\/politics\/jeremy-carl-claremont-institute-senate-hearing.html)\n  \n  ![Jeremy Carl, nominee to be an Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations, at a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., this week.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/13\/multimedia\/13nat-carl-1-gptf\/13nat-carl-1-gptf-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Elizabeth Frantz for The New York Times\n- [Gallup Will No Longer Track Presidential Approval Ratings](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/11\/us\/politics\/gallup-poll-presidential-approval-ratings-trump.html)\n  \n  ![Gallup’s decision comes as President Trump has escalated his threats against the press, and has sued several news media organizations, including at least one pollster, over the last several years.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/11\/multimedia\/11nat-gallup-mbwq\/11nat-gallup-mbwq-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Tierney L. Cross\/The New York Times\n- [Why Pennsylvania’s Two Most Powerful Democrats Don’t Speak](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/12\/us\/politics\/john-fetterman-josh-shapiro-pennsylvania.html)\n  \n  ![Senator John Fetterman and Gov. Josh Shapiro were both rising Democratic stars when they won their offices in 2022. Since then, their political trajectories have diverged.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/05\/us\/politics\/pol-shapiro-fetterman\/pol-shapiro-fetterman-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Eric Lee for The New York Times, Greg Kahn for The New York Times\n\n### Editors’ Picks\n- [I Had Buyer’s Remorse. It Almost Ended My Marriage.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/13\/style\/modern-love-i-had-buyers-remorse-it-almost-ended-my-marriage.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/15\/fashion\/15ST-MODERN-REALESTATE-DELAMARTRE\/15ST-MODERN-REALESTATE-DELAMARTRE-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Brian Rea\n- [Three’s a Crowd](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/13\/realestate\/couples-roommates-housing-costs.html)\n  \n  ![Nicola Munson, her boyfriend, Leo Dolan (left), and Gil Young at their shared home in Los Angeles.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/13\/multimedia\/13re-married-with-roommates-qkfg\/13re-married-with-roommates-qkfg-square640-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Jennelle Fong for The New York Times\n\n### Trending in The Times\n- [Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/13\/technology\/meta-facial-recognition-smart-glasses.html)\n  \n  ![The maker of Meta’s smart glasses said it sold more than seven million pairs last year. ](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/11\/multimedia\/BIZ-META-FACIAL-RECOGNITION-2-qwtg\/BIZ-META-FACIAL-RECOGNITION-2-qwtg-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Lucia Vazquez for The New York Times\n- [How to Sleep With Other People](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/11\/realestate\/how-to-sleep-with-other-people.html)\n  \n  ![Unlock better sleep.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/15\/realestate\/11re-sleeping-with-other-people-ILLO\/11re-sleeping-with-other-people-ILLO-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Nicolas Ortega\n- [Sales at McDonald’s Rise, Driven by Value Meals and Grinch Socks](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/11\/business\/mcdonalds-earnings-sales-value-meals.html)\n  \n  ![It has been a tough slog for restaurants over the past year as many contend with a slowdown in eating out among consumers.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/11\/05\/multimedia\/11biz-mcdonalds-earnings\/05biz-mcdonalds-hlgc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  John Taggart for The New York Times\n- [‘Wuthering Heights’ \\| Anatomy of a Scene](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/video\/movies\/100000010705309\/wuthering-heights-anatomy-of-a-scene.html)\n  \n  ![Margot Robbie in “Wuthering Heights.”](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/13\/multimedia\/wuthering-heights-anatomy-khqb\/wuthering-heights-anatomy-khqb-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Warner Bros. Pictures\n- [Deception and Dependency: Inside the Latest Epstein Files](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/10\/podcasts\/the-daily\/epstein-files-business-political-leaders.html)\n  \n  ![The Department of Justice released the largest batch of Jeffrey Epstein files to date last month, including three million pages of documents and thousands of videos and images.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/10\/multimedia\/10DAILY-epstein-roundtable-jqcp\/10DAILY-epstein-roundtable-jqcp-square640-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Jon Elswick\/Associated Press\n- [Opinion: Something Surprising Happens When Bus Rides Are Free](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/13\/opinion\/free-bus-rides-mamdani.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/16\/opinion\/10almanza\/10almanza-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Brian Blomerth\n- [Switzerland to Vote on Capping Population at 10 Million](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/11\/world\/europe\/switzerland-to-vote-on-capping-population-at-10-million.html)\n  \n  ![A man walking with two children in Zurich. Switzerland will vote in June on a proposal to cap its population at 10 million through 2050.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/11\/multimedia\/11int-switzerland-population-wkbt\/11int-switzerland-population-wkbt-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Michael Buholzer\/EPA, via Shutterstock\n- [A Watch Brand From ‘So Many Places’](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/10\/fashion\/watches-moels-gdansk-poland.html)\n  \n  ![Betina Menescal, the founder of Möels & Co, sitting, with her father, Marcos, the company chief executive. Ms. Menescal’s mother and sister also work with the company.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/12\/multimedia\/12sp-watches-moels-inyt-01-fthp\/12sp-watches-moels-inyt-01-fthp-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Andreas Meichsner for The New York Times\n- [See the Jumps That Knocked Ilia Malinin Off the Podium](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2026\/02\/13\/sports\/olympics-figure-skating-results-malinin.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/13\/multimedia\/2026-02-11-figure-skating-mens-final-index\/2026-02-11-figure-skating-mens-final-index-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  The New York Times\n- [A Speedy Approach to Breaking Fast This Ramadan](https:\/\/cooking.nytimes.com\/article\/breaking-fast-ramadan)\n  \n  ![A thin layer of spiced ground meat cooks quickly under the broiler when it’s spread onto pitas.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/13\/multimedia\/13FD-EARLY-IFTAR-1-cvmh\/13FD-EARLY-IFTAR-1-cvmh-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/26\/us\/politics\/trump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html#after-bottom)\n\n## Site Index\n[Go to Home Page »](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/)\n\nNews\n\n- [Home Page](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/)\n- [U.S.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/us)\n- [World](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/world)\n- [Politics](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/politics)\n- [New York](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/nyregion)\n- [Education](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/education)\n- [Sports](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/sports)\n- [Business](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/business)\n- [Tech](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/technology)\n- [Science](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/science)\n- [Weather](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/weather)\n- [The Great Read](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/the-great-read)\n- [Obituaries](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/obituaries)\n- [Headway](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/headway)\n- [Visual Investigations](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/visual-investigations)\n- [The Magazine](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/magazine)\n\nArts\n\n- [Book Review](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/books\/review)\n- [Best Sellers Book List](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/books\/best-sellers\/)\n- [Dance](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/dance)\n- [Movies](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/movies)\n- [Music](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/music)\n- [Pop Culture](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/pop-culture)\n- [Television](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/television)\n- [Theater](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/theater)\n- [Visual Arts](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/design)\n\nLifestyle\n\n- [Health](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/health)\n- [Well](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/well)\n- [Food](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/food)\n- [Restaurant Reviews](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/reviews\/dining)\n- [Love](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/fashion\/weddings)\n- [Travel](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/travel)\n- [Style](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/style)\n- [Fashion](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/fashion)\n- [Real Estate](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/realestate)\n- [T Magazine](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/t-magazine)\n\nOpinion\n\n- [Today's Opinion](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion)\n- [Columnists](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/columnists)\n- [Editorials](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/editorials)\n- [Guest Essays](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/contributors)\n- [Op-Docs](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/column\/op-docs)\n- [Letters](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/letters)\n- [Sunday Opinion](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/sunday)\n- [Opinion Video](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/opinion-video)\n- [Opinion Audio](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/series\/opinion-audio)\n\nMore\n\n- [Audio](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/podcasts)\n- [Games](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/crosswords)\n- [Cooking](https:\/\/cooking.nytimes.com\/)\n- [Wirecutter](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/wirecutter\/)\n- [The Athletic](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/)\n- [Jobs](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/jobs)\n- [Video](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/video)\n- [Graphics](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/graphics)\n- [Trending](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/trending\/)\n- [Live Events](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/nyt-events)\n- [Corrections](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/corrections)\n- [Reader Center](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/reader-center)\n- [TimesMachine](https:\/\/timesmachine.nytimes.com\/browser)\n- [The Learning Network](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/learning)\n- [School of The NYT](https:\/\/nytedu.com\/)\n- [inEducation](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/nytimesineducation)\n\n### News\n- [Home Page](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/)\n- [U.S.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/us)\n- [World](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/world)\n- [Politics](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/politics)\n- [New York](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/nyregion)\n- [Education](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/education)\n- [Sports](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/sports)\n- [Business](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/business)\n- [Tech](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/technology)\n- [Science](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/science)\n- [Weather](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/weather)\n- [The Great Read](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/the-great-read)\n- [Obituaries](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/obituaries)\n- [Headway](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/headway)\n- [Visual Investigations](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/visual-investigations)\n- [The Magazine](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/magazine)\n\n### Arts\n- [Book Review](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/books\/review)\n- [Best Sellers Book List](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/books\/best-sellers\/)\n- [Dance](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/dance)\n- [Movies](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/movies)\n- [Music](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/music)\n- [Pop Culture](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/pop-culture)\n- [Television](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/television)\n- [Theater](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/theater)\n- [Visual Arts](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/design)\n\n### Lifestyle\n- [Health](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/health)\n- [Well](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/well)\n- [Food](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/food)\n- [Restaurant Reviews](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/reviews\/dining)\n- [Love](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/fashion\/weddings)\n- [Travel](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/travel)\n- [Style](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/style)\n- [Fashion](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/fashion)\n- [Real Estate](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/realestate)\n- [T Magazine](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/t-magazine)\n\n### Opinion\n- [Today's Opinion](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion)\n- [Columnists](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/columnists)\n- [Editorials](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/editorials)\n- [Guest Essays](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/contributors)\n- [Op-Docs](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/column\/op-docs)\n- [Letters](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/letters)\n- [Sunday Opinion](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/sunday)\n- [Opinion Video](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/opinion-video)\n- [Opinion Audio](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/series\/opinion-audio)\n\n### More\n- [Audio](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/podcasts)\n- [Games](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/crosswords)\n- [Cooking](https:\/\/cooking.nytimes.com\/)\n- [Wirecutter](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/wirecutter\/)\n- [The Athletic](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/)\n- [Jobs](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/jobs)\n- [Video](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/video)\n- [Graphics](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/graphics)\n- [Trending](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/trending\/)\n- [Live Events](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/nyt-events)\n- [Corrections](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/corrections)\n- [Reader Center](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/reader-center)\n- [TimesMachine](https:\/\/timesmachine.nytimes.com\/browser)\n- [The Learning Network](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/learning)\n- [School of The NYT](https:\/\/nytedu.com\/)\n- [inEducation](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/nytimesineducation)\n\n### Account\n- [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription)\n- [Manage My Account](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/account)\n- [Home Delivery](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription\/home-delivery)\n- [Gift Subscriptions](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/gift)\n\n- [Group Subscriptions](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription\/groups?Pardot_Campaign_Code_Form_Input=89FQX)\n- [Gift Articles](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/gift-articles)\n- [Email Newsletters](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/newsletters)\n\n- [NYT Licensing](https:\/\/nytlicensing.com\/)\n- [Replica Edition](https:\/\/nytimes.pressreader.com\/)\n- [Times Store](https:\/\/store.nytimes.com\/)\n\n## Site Information Navigation\n- [© 2026 The New York Times Company](https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/115014792127-Copyright-Notice)\n\n- [NYTCo](https:\/\/www.nytco.com\/)\n- [Contact Us](https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/115015385887-Contact-The-New-York-Times)\n- [Accessibility](https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/115015727108-Accessibility)\n- [Work with us](https:\/\/www.nytco.com\/careers\/)\n- [Advertise](https:\/\/advertising.nytimes.com\/)\n- [T Brand Studio](https:\/\/advertising.nytimes.com\/custom-content\/)\n- [Privacy Policy](https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/10940941449492-The-New-York-Times-Company-Privacy-Policy)\n- [Cookie Policy](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/privacy\/cookie-policy)\n- [Terms of Service](https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/115014893428-Terms-of-Service)\n- [Terms of Sale](https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/115014893968-Terms-of-Sale)\n- [Site Map](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/sitemap\/)\n- [Canada](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/ca\/)\n- [International](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/international\/)\n- [Help](https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us)\n- [Subscriptions](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=37WXW)","attrs_readable_markdown":"Advertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/26\/us\/politics\/trump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html#after-top)\n\nPolitical Memo\n\nThe president has often said he is exceptionally smart. His recent suggestion about injecting disinfectants was not.\n\n![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2020\/04\/28\/us\/politics\/26virus-disinfectant-memo\/merlin_171872820_ac94b047-74a7-459d-98c5-df7778586e2a-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nPresident Trump suggested on Thursday that an “injection inside” the body with a disinfectant like bleach could help fight the coronavirus.Credit...Al Drago for The New York Times\n\nApril 26, 2020\n\nPresident Trump’s self-assessment has been consistent.\n\n“I’m, like, a very smart person,” he assured voters in 2016.\n\n“A very stable genius,” he ruled two years later.\n\n“I’m not a doctor,” he allowed on Thursday, pointing to his skull inside the White House briefing room, “but I’m, like, a person that has a good you-know-what.”\n\nMr. Trump’s performance that evening, when he [suggested that injections of disinfectants](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/24\/us\/politics\/trump-inject-disinfectant-bleach-coronavirus.html) into the human body could help combat the coronavirus, did not sound like the work of a doctor, a genius, or a person with a good you-know-what.\n\nEven by the turbulent standards of this president, his musings on virus remedies have landed with uncommon force, drawing widespread condemnation as dangerous to the health of Americans and inspiring a near-universal alarm that many of his past remarks — whether offensive or fear-mongering or simply untrue — did not.\n\nMr. Trump’s typical name-calling can be recast to receptive audiences as mere “counterpunching.” His impeachment was explained away as the dastardly opus of overreaching Democrats. It is more difficult to insist that the man floating disinfectant injection knows what he’s doing.\n\nThe reaction has so rattled the president’s allies and advisers that he was compelled over the weekend to [remove himself from the pandemic briefings](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/25\/us\/coronavirus-news.html) entirely, at least temporarily accepting two fates he loathes: giving in to advice (from Republicans who said the appearances [did far more harm than good](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/25\/us\/politics\/trump-election-briefings.html) to his political standing) and surrendering the mass viewership he relishes.\n\nSome at the White House have expressed frustration that the issue has lingered. “It bothers me that this is still in the news cycle,” Dr. Deborah Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator, told CNN on Sunday, adding, “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.”\n\nGov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, a Republican who has been willing to speak skeptically about Mr. Trump’s virus leadership, said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that it “does send a wrong message” when misinformation spreads from a public official or “you just say something that pops in your head.” Asked to explain the president’s words, Mr. Hogan said, “You know, I can’t really explain it.”\n\nNo modern American politician can match Mr. Trump’s record of [false](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/fact-checks) or [illogical](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2019\/11\/02\/us\/politics\/trump-twitter-presidency.html) statements, which has invited questions about his intelligence. Insinuations and gaffes have trailed former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Dan Quayle and [Joseph R. Biden Jr.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2020\/us\/elections\/joe-biden.html), now the presumptive Democratic nominee, among many others. But Mr. Trump’s stark pronouncement — on live television, amid a grave public health crisis, and leaving little room for interpretation — was at once in a class of its own and wholly consistent with a reputation for carelessness in speech.\n\nImage\n\n![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2020\/04\/26\/us\/politics\/26virus-disinfectant-memo-03\/26virus-disinfectant-memo-03-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nA spokesman for Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s campaign called the Trump team’s effort to portray Mr. Biden as doddering “a distraction tactic.” Credit...Erin Schaff\/The New York Times\n\nStill, for weeks, the president’s political team has been strikingly explicit about its intended messaging against Mr. Biden: presenting him as a doddering 77-year-old not up to the rigors of the office — and setting off on the kind of whisper campaign that does not bother with whispers.\n\nA Trump campaign Twitter account on Saturday celebrated the anniversary of Mr. Biden’s 2020 bid by highlighting all that he had “forgotten” as a candidate, with corresponding video clips of momentary flubs and verbal stumbles: “Joe Biden forgot the name of the coronavirus.” “Joe Biden forgot the G7 was not the G8.” “Joe Biden forgot Super Tuesday was on a Tuesday.”\n\nOn Sunday, the Trump campaign made clear that the disinfectant affair would not disrupt its plans. “Joe Biden is often lost,” said Tim Murtaugh, a Trump campaign spokesman, “losing his train of thought during friendly interviews, even when he relies on written notes in front of him.”\n\nT.J. Ducklo, a Biden spokesman, called this approach “a distraction tactic — as if anything could erase the memory of the president suggesting people drink disinfectant on national television.”\n\nCarlos Curbelo, a Republican former Florida congressman who clashed at times with Mr. Trump and did not vote for him, said the president’s comments on disinfectants were likely to resonate precisely because he was running a race premised largely on Mr. Biden’s mental capacity.\n\n“Given Joe Biden’s gaffes and mistakes, I think the Trump campaign had a strong narrative there,” he said. “At the very least, that advantage was completely erased.”\n\nMr. Curbelo said a friend had suggested recently that Mr. Trump’s toxic virus idea was “the craziest thing he ever said.”\n\n“I said, ‘I don’t know,’” Mr. Curbelo recalled. “‘Maybe. I’d have to look back and check.’”\n\nThis history, of course, is the argument for Democratic caution. The list of episodes that were supposed to end Mr. Trump — the “Access Hollywood” tape, the “very fine people” on both sides of a white supremacist rally, insulting John McCain’s service as a prisoner of war — is longer than most voters’ memories.\n\nThe president can register as more [time-bending](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/12\/29\/us\/politics\/trump-news-overload.html) than Teflon. Plenty sticks to him; it just tends to be buried quickly enough by the next stack of outrages, limiting the exposure of any single one.\n\nBut if most Trump admirers have long since made up their minds about him, recent polling on his handling of the crisis does suggest some measure of electoral risk. Governors and public health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci are viewed as far more trustworthy on the pandemic, according to surveys.\n\nImage\n\n![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2020\/04\/26\/us\/politics\/26virus-disinfectant-memo-02\/26virus-disinfectant-memo-02-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nDrs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, the top public health officials overseeing the federal response to the coronavirus, have struggled at times to clarify Mr. Trump’s off-the-cuff statements.Credit...Doug Mills\/The New York Times\n\nLily Adams, a former aide on the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, who is now advising Unite the Country, a pro-Biden super PAC, said that swing voters in focus groups were especially dismayed at Mr. Trump’s refusal to listen to experts.\n\n“Any person who has ever done a load of laundry, or installed a childproof lock on a cleaning supplies cabinet, or just looked at one of those skulls on the label, knows it’s an idiotic idea,” she said.\n\nEven some of the president’s reliable cheerleaders at Fox News have [not tried](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/24\/business\/media\/virus-fox-trump-disinfectant.html) to defend him. And recent visitors to the Drudge Report — the powerful conservative news aggregation site whose proprietor, Matt Drudge, has increasingly ridiculed Mr. Trump of late — were greeted with a doctored image of “Clorox Chewables.” “Trump Recommended,” the tagline read. “Don’t Die Maybe!”\n\nFor Mr. Trump, such mockery tends to singe. Since long before his 2016 campaign, few subjects have been as meaningful to him as appraisals of his intellect.\n\nIt is a source of perpetual obsession and manifest insecurity, former aides say, so much so that Mr. Trump has felt the need to allude to his brainpower regularly: tales of his academic credentials at the University of Pennsylvania; his “natural ability” in complicated disciplines; his connection to a “super genius” uncle, [an engineer](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1985\/02\/26\/us\/john-trump-dies-engineer-was-78.html) who taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.\n\nWhen Rex Tillerson, the president’s first secretary of state, was [reported](https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/white-house\/tillerson-s-fury-trump-required-intervention-pence-n806451) to have called Mr. Trump a “moron” in private — one of several former senior administration officials said to have rendered equivalent verdicts — Mr. Trump challenged him to “compare I.Q. tests.” A favorite Trump insult on Twitter, [reserved for Mr. Biden](https:\/\/twitter.com\/realDonaldTrump\/status\/1107631297076305920) among others, is “low I.Q. individual.”\n\n“He doesn’t want to feel like anybody is better than he is,” said Barbara A. Res, a former executive vice president of the Trump Organization, who recalled Mr. Trump bragging about his college grades. “He can’t deal with that. I can see it now with the doctors, and that’s why he dismisses them. He used to be intimidated by lawyers. Anyone who knows more than he does makes him feel less than he is.”\n\nSteve Schmidt, a former Republican strategist and prominent Trump critic, said the president’s meditation on disinfectants stood apart from a trope that Mr. Schmidt came to recognize as an adviser to conservatives like Mr. Bush: “that the conservative candidate in the race was also always portrayed as the dumb candidate.”\n\n“But a caricature is distinct from a narrative,” Mr. Schmidt said. And Mr. Trump’s reckless medical fare, he reasoned, had given adversaries a narrative by confirming a caricature.\n\nThe president’s own [attempts at damage control](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/24\/us\/politics\/trump-inject-disinfectant-bleach-coronavirus.html) have been scattershot. First, his new press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, accused the news media of taking Mr. Trump out of context. Shortly afterward, he undercut her case by saying his comments had in fact been a sarcastic prank on reporters, an explanation even some supporters found implausible.\n\nHe left his Friday briefing on the coronavirus without taking questions. By Saturday, when Mr. Trump tweeted that the events were “[not worth the time & effort](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/25\/us\/coronavirus-news.html),” his opponents conceded this much:\n\nThe president had probably done something smart.\n\n[Matt Flegenheimer](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/matt-flegenheimer) is a reporter covering national politics. He started at The Times in 2011 on the Metro desk covering transit, City Hall and campaigns.\n\nA version of this article appears in print on April 27, 2020, Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: A Disinfectant That May Mar Trump’s Teflon. [Order Reprints](https:\/\/nytimes.wrightsmedia.com\/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscriptions\/Multiproduct\/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY)\n\n## Related Content\n[More in Politics](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/politics)\n\n- ![Karrin Taylor Robson had earned President Trump’s early endorsement, but he later also bestowed his support to Representative Andy Biggs, a member of the hard-line Freedom Caucus.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/12\/multimedia\/pol-taylor-robson-tmpc\/pol-taylor-robson-tmpc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Caitlin O'Hara for The New York Times\n- ![Jeremy Carl, nominee to be an Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations, at a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., this week.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/13\/multimedia\/13nat-carl-1-gptf\/13nat-carl-1-gptf-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Elizabeth Frantz for The New York Times\n- ![Gallup’s decision comes as President Trump has escalated his threats against the press, and has sued several news media organizations, including at least one pollster, over the last several years.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/11\/multimedia\/11nat-gallup-mbwq\/11nat-gallup-mbwq-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Tierney L. Cross\/The New York Times\n- ![Senator John Fetterman and Gov. Josh Shapiro were both rising Democratic stars when they won their offices in 2022. Since then, their political trajectories have diverged.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/05\/us\/politics\/pol-shapiro-fetterman\/pol-shapiro-fetterman-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Eric Lee for The New York Times, Greg Kahn for The New York Times\n\nEditors’ Picks\n\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/15\/fashion\/15ST-MODERN-REALESTATE-DELAMARTRE\/15ST-MODERN-REALESTATE-DELAMARTRE-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Brian Rea\n- ![Nicola Munson, her boyfriend, Leo Dolan (left), and Gil Young at their shared home in Los Angeles.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/13\/multimedia\/13re-married-with-roommates-qkfg\/13re-married-with-roommates-qkfg-square640-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Jennelle Fong for The New York Times\n\nTrending in The Times\n\n- ![The maker of Meta’s smart glasses said it sold more than seven million pairs last year. ](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/11\/multimedia\/BIZ-META-FACIAL-RECOGNITION-2-qwtg\/BIZ-META-FACIAL-RECOGNITION-2-qwtg-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Lucia Vazquez for The New York Times\n- ![Unlock better sleep.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/15\/realestate\/11re-sleeping-with-other-people-ILLO\/11re-sleeping-with-other-people-ILLO-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Nicolas Ortega\n- ![It has been a tough slog for restaurants over the past year as many contend with a slowdown in eating out among consumers.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/11\/05\/multimedia\/11biz-mcdonalds-earnings\/05biz-mcdonalds-hlgc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  John Taggart for The New York Times\n- ![Margot Robbie in “Wuthering Heights.”](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/13\/multimedia\/wuthering-heights-anatomy-khqb\/wuthering-heights-anatomy-khqb-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Warner Bros. Pictures\n- ![The Department of Justice released the largest batch of Jeffrey Epstein files to date last month, including three million pages of documents and thousands of videos and images.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/10\/multimedia\/10DAILY-epstein-roundtable-jqcp\/10DAILY-epstein-roundtable-jqcp-square640-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Jon Elswick\/Associated Press\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/16\/opinion\/10almanza\/10almanza-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Brian Blomerth\n- ![A man walking with two children in Zurich. Switzerland will vote in June on a proposal to cap its population at 10 million through 2050.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/11\/multimedia\/11int-switzerland-population-wkbt\/11int-switzerland-population-wkbt-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Michael Buholzer\/EPA, via Shutterstock\n- ![Betina Menescal, the founder of Möels & Co, sitting, with her father, Marcos, the company chief executive. Ms. Menescal’s mother and sister also work with the company.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/12\/multimedia\/12sp-watches-moels-inyt-01-fthp\/12sp-watches-moels-inyt-01-fthp-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Andreas Meichsner for The New York Times\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/13\/multimedia\/2026-02-11-figure-skating-mens-final-index\/2026-02-11-figure-skating-mens-final-index-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  The New York Times\n- ![A thin layer of spiced ground meat cooks quickly under the broiler when it’s spread onto pitas.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/13\/multimedia\/13FD-EARLY-IFTAR-1-cvmh\/13FD-EARLY-IFTAR-1-cvmh-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/04\/26\/us\/politics\/trump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html#after-bottom)","meta_canonical":null}

3. Robots.txt Check

Query:

Response:

4. Spam/Ban Check

Query:

Response:

5. Seen Status Check

ℹ️ Skipped - page is already crawled

📄

INDEXABLE

✅

CRAWLED

2 months ago

🤖

ROBOTS ALLOWED

Page Info Filters

Filter	Status	Condition	Details
HTTP status	PASS	`download_http_code = 200`	HTTP 200
Age cutoff	PASS	`download_stamp > now() - 6 MONTH`	2.1 months ago
History drop	PASS	`isNull(history_drop_reason)`	No drop reason
Spam/ban	PASS	`fh_dont_index != 1 AND ml_spam_score = 0`	ml_spam_score=0
Canonical	PASS	`meta_canonical IS NULL OR = '' OR = src_unparsed`	Not set

Page Details

Property	Value
URL	https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/26/us/politics/trump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html
Last Crawled	2026-02-14 05:53:24 (2 months ago)
First Indexed	2020-04-27 13:15:52 (5 years ago)
HTTP Status Code	200
Meta Title	Trump’s Disinfectant Remark Raises a Question About the ‘Very Stable Genius’ - The New York Times
Meta Description	The president has often said he is exceptionally smart. His recent suggestion about injecting disinfectants was not.
Meta Canonical	null
Boilerpipe Text	Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Political Memo The president has often said he is exceptionally smart. His recent suggestion about injecting disinfectants was not. President Trump suggested on Thursday that an “injection inside” the body with a disinfectant like bleach could help fight the coronavirus. Credit... Al Drago for The New York Times April 26, 2020 President Trump’s self-assessment has been consistent. “I’m, like, a very smart person,” he assured voters in 2016. “A very stable genius,” he ruled two years later. “I’m not a doctor,” he allowed on Thursday, pointing to his skull inside the White House briefing room, “but I’m, like, a person that has a good you-know-what.” Mr. Trump’s performance that evening, when he suggested that injections of disinfectants into the human body could help combat the coronavirus, did not sound like the work of a doctor, a genius, or a person with a good you-know-what. Even by the turbulent standards of this president, his musings on virus remedies have landed with uncommon force, drawing widespread condemnation as dangerous to the health of Americans and inspiring a near-universal alarm that many of his past remarks — whether offensive or fear-mongering or simply untrue — did not. Mr. Trump’s typical name-calling can be recast to receptive audiences as mere “counterpunching.” His impeachment was explained away as the dastardly opus of overreaching Democrats. It is more difficult to insist that the man floating disinfectant injection knows what he’s doing. The reaction has so rattled the president’s allies and advisers that he was compelled over the weekend to remove himself from the pandemic briefings entirely, at least temporarily accepting two fates he loathes: giving in to advice (from Republicans who said the appearances did far more harm than good to his political standing) and surrendering the mass viewership he relishes. Some at the White House have expressed frustration that the issue has lingered. “It bothers me that this is still in the news cycle,” Dr. Deborah Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator, told CNN on Sunday, adding, “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.” Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, a Republican who has been willing to speak skeptically about Mr. Trump’s virus leadership, said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that it “does send a wrong message” when misinformation spreads from a public official or “you just say something that pops in your head.” Asked to explain the president’s words, Mr. Hogan said, “You know, I can’t really explain it.” No modern American politician can match Mr. Trump’s record of false or illogical statements, which has invited questions about his intelligence. Insinuations and gaffes have trailed former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Dan Quayle and Joseph R. Biden Jr. , now the presumptive Democratic nominee, among many others. But Mr. Trump’s stark pronouncement — on live television, amid a grave public health crisis, and leaving little room for interpretation — was at once in a class of its own and wholly consistent with a reputation for carelessness in speech. Image A spokesman for Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s campaign called the Trump team’s effort to portray Mr. Biden as doddering “a distraction tactic.” Credit... Erin Schaff/The New York Times Still, for weeks, the president’s political team has been strikingly explicit about its intended messaging against Mr. Biden: presenting him as a doddering 77-year-old not up to the rigors of the office — and setting off on the kind of whisper campaign that does not bother with whispers. A Trump campaign Twitter account on Saturday celebrated the anniversary of Mr. Biden’s 2020 bid by highlighting all that he had “forgotten” as a candidate, with corresponding video clips of momentary flubs and verbal stumbles: “Joe Biden forgot the name of the coronavirus.” “Joe Biden forgot the G7 was not the G8.” “Joe Biden forgot Super Tuesday was on a Tuesday.” On Sunday, the Trump campaign made clear that the disinfectant affair would not disrupt its plans. “Joe Biden is often lost,” said Tim Murtaugh, a Trump campaign spokesman, “losing his train of thought during friendly interviews, even when he relies on written notes in front of him.” T.J. Ducklo, a Biden spokesman, called this approach “a distraction tactic — as if anything could erase the memory of the president suggesting people drink disinfectant on national television.” Carlos Curbelo, a Republican former Florida congressman who clashed at times with Mr. Trump and did not vote for him, said the president’s comments on disinfectants were likely to resonate precisely because he was running a race premised largely on Mr. Biden’s mental capacity. “Given Joe Biden’s gaffes and mistakes, I think the Trump campaign had a strong narrative there,” he said. “At the very least, that advantage was completely erased.” Mr. Curbelo said a friend had suggested recently that Mr. Trump’s toxic virus idea was “the craziest thing he ever said.” “I said, ‘I don’t know,’” Mr. Curbelo recalled. “‘Maybe. I’d have to look back and check.’” This history, of course, is the argument for Democratic caution. The list of episodes that were supposed to end Mr. Trump — the “Access Hollywood” tape, the “very fine people” on both sides of a white supremacist rally, insulting John McCain’s service as a prisoner of war — is longer than most voters’ memories. The president can register as more time-bending than Teflon. Plenty sticks to him; it just tends to be buried quickly enough by the next stack of outrages, limiting the exposure of any single one. But if most Trump admirers have long since made up their minds about him, recent polling on his handling of the crisis does suggest some measure of electoral risk. Governors and public health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci are viewed as far more trustworthy on the pandemic, according to surveys. Image Drs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, the top public health officials overseeing the federal response to the coronavirus, have struggled at times to clarify Mr. Trump’s off-the-cuff statements. Credit... Doug Mills/The New York Times Lily Adams, a former aide on the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, who is now advising Unite the Country, a pro-Biden super PAC, said that swing voters in focus groups were especially dismayed at Mr. Trump’s refusal to listen to experts. “Any person who has ever done a load of laundry, or installed a childproof lock on a cleaning supplies cabinet, or just looked at one of those skulls on the label, knows it’s an idiotic idea,” she said. Even some of the president’s reliable cheerleaders at Fox News have not tried to defend him. And recent visitors to the Drudge Report — the powerful conservative news aggregation site whose proprietor, Matt Drudge, has increasingly ridiculed Mr. Trump of late — were greeted with a doctored image of “Clorox Chewables.” “Trump Recommended,” the tagline read. “Don’t Die Maybe!” For Mr. Trump, such mockery tends to singe. Since long before his 2016 campaign, few subjects have been as meaningful to him as appraisals of his intellect. It is a source of perpetual obsession and manifest insecurity, former aides say, so much so that Mr. Trump has felt the need to allude to his brainpower regularly: tales of his academic credentials at the University of Pennsylvania; his “natural ability” in complicated disciplines; his connection to a “super genius” uncle, an engineer who taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. When Rex Tillerson, the president’s first secretary of state, was reported to have called Mr. Trump a “moron” in private — one of several former senior administration officials said to have rendered equivalent verdicts — Mr. Trump challenged him to “compare I.Q. tests.” A favorite Trump insult on Twitter, reserved for Mr. Biden among others, is “low I.Q. individual.” “He doesn’t want to feel like anybody is better than he is,” said Barbara A. Res, a former executive vice president of the Trump Organization, who recalled Mr. Trump bragging about his college grades. “He can’t deal with that. I can see it now with the doctors, and that’s why he dismisses them. He used to be intimidated by lawyers. Anyone who knows more than he does makes him feel less than he is.” Steve Schmidt, a former Republican strategist and prominent Trump critic, said the president’s meditation on disinfectants stood apart from a trope that Mr. Schmidt came to recognize as an adviser to conservatives like Mr. Bush: “that the conservative candidate in the race was also always portrayed as the dumb candidate.” “But a caricature is distinct from a narrative,” Mr. Schmidt said. And Mr. Trump’s reckless medical fare, he reasoned, had given adversaries a narrative by confirming a caricature. The president’s own attempts at damage control have been scattershot. First, his new press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, accused the news media of taking Mr. Trump out of context. Shortly afterward, he undercut her case by saying his comments had in fact been a sarcastic prank on reporters, an explanation even some supporters found implausible. He left his Friday briefing on the coronavirus without taking questions. By Saturday, when Mr. Trump tweeted that the events were “ not worth the time & effort ,” his opponents conceded this much: The president had probably done something smart. Matt Flegenheimer is a reporter covering national politics. He started at The Times in 2011 on the Metro desk covering transit, City Hall and campaigns. A version of this article appears in print on April 27, 2020 , Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: A Disinfectant That May Mar Trump’s Teflon . Order Reprints \| Today’s Paper \| Subscribe Related Content More in Politics Caitlin O'Hara for The New York Times Elizabeth Frantz for The New York Times Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times Eric Lee for The New York Times, Greg Kahn for The New York Times Editors’ Picks Brian Rea Jennelle Fong for The New York Times Trending in The Times Lucia Vazquez for The New York Times Nicolas Ortega John Taggart for The New York Times Warner Bros. Pictures Jon Elswick/Associated Press Brian Blomerth Michael Buholzer/EPA, via Shutterstock Andreas Meichsner for The New York Times The New York Times Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
Markdown	[Skip to content](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/26/us/politics/trump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html#site-content)[Skip to site index](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/26/us/politics/trump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html#site-index) Search & Section Navigation Section Navigation Search [Politics](https://www.nytimes.com/section/politics) [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fsubscription%2Fonboarding-offer%3FcampaignId%3D7JFJX%26EXIT_URI%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.nytimes.com%252F2020%252F04%252F26%252Fus%252Fpolitics%252Ftrump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html&asset=masthead) Saturday, February 14, 2026 [Today’s Paper](https://www.nytimes.com/section/todayspaper) Trump Administration - live[Updates](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02/13/us/trump-news) Feb. 14, 2026, 12:48 a.m. ET5m ago - [How Trump Sees the World](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/02/11/us/trump-foreign-policy-world-quotes.html) - [Epstein Fallout](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/us/politics/trump-epstein.html) - [El Paso Airspace](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/us/el-paso-airspace-shutdown-what-to-know.html) - [Whistle-Blower Report](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/us/politics/kushner-gabbard-iran-intelligence.html) - [Tariff Tracker](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/07/28/business/economy/trump-tariff-tracker.html) Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/26/us/politics/trump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html#after-top) Supported by [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/26/us/politics/trump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html#after-sponsor) Political Memo # Trump’s Disinfectant Remark Raises a Question About the ‘Very Stable Genius’ The president has often said he is exceptionally smart. His recent suggestion about injecting disinfectants was not. - Share full article - 1\.8k ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/04/28/us/politics/26virus-disinfectant-memo/merlin_171872820_ac94b047-74a7-459d-98c5-df7778586e2a-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) President Trump suggested on Thursday that an “injection inside” the body with a disinfectant like bleach could help fight the coronavirus.Credit...Al Drago for The New York Times [![Matt Flegenheimer](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/10/02/multimedia/author-matt-flegenheimer/author-matt-flegenheimer-thumbLarge.png)](https://www.nytimes.com/by/matt-flegenheimer) By [Matt Flegenheimer](https://www.nytimes.com/by/matt-flegenheimer) April 26, 2020 President Trump’s self-assessment has been consistent. “I’m, like, a very smart person,” he assured voters in 2016. “A very stable genius,” he ruled two years later. “I’m not a doctor,” he allowed on Thursday, pointing to his skull inside the White House briefing room, “but I’m, like, a person that has a good you-know-what.” Mr. Trump’s performance that evening, when he [suggested that injections of disinfectants](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/us/politics/trump-inject-disinfectant-bleach-coronavirus.html) into the human body could help combat the coronavirus, did not sound like the work of a doctor, a genius, or a person with a good you-know-what. Even by the turbulent standards of this president, his musings on virus remedies have landed with uncommon force, drawing widespread condemnation as dangerous to the health of Americans and inspiring a near-universal alarm that many of his past remarks — whether offensive or fear-mongering or simply untrue — did not. [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/04/22/autossell/trumpgrid/trumpgrid-articleLarge.png)260,000 Words, Full of Self-Praise, From Trump on the Virus Three journalists from The New York Times reviewed more than 260,000 words spoken by President Trump during the pandemic. Here’s what we learned.](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/26/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-briefings-analyzed.html) Mr. Trump’s typical name-calling can be recast to receptive audiences as mere “counterpunching.” His impeachment was explained away as the dastardly opus of overreaching Democrats. It is more difficult to insist that the man floating disinfectant injection knows what he’s doing. The reaction has so rattled the president’s allies and advisers that he was compelled over the weekend to [remove himself from the pandemic briefings](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/25/us/coronavirus-news.html) entirely, at least temporarily accepting two fates he loathes: giving in to advice (from Republicans who said the appearances [did far more harm than good](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/25/us/politics/trump-election-briefings.html) to his political standing) and surrendering the mass viewership he relishes. Some at the White House have expressed frustration that the issue has lingered. “It bothers me that this is still in the news cycle,” Dr. Deborah Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator, told CNN on Sunday, adding, “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.” Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, a Republican who has been willing to speak skeptically about Mr. Trump’s virus leadership, said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that it “does send a wrong message” when misinformation spreads from a public official or “you just say something that pops in your head.” Asked to explain the president’s words, Mr. Hogan said, “You know, I can’t really explain it.” ## Editors’ Picks [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/11/multimedia/wuthering-heights-glhb/wuthering-heights-glhb-thumbLarge.jpg)10 New Movies Our Critics Are Talking About This Week](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/movies/new-movies-this-week-critics.html) [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/11/multimedia/11FD-Appetite-shrimp-rice-promo-gwtv/11FD-Appetite-shrimp-rice-promo-gwtv-thumbLarge.jpg)This Sheet-Pan Shrimp and Rice Is Extremely Nice](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/dining/sheet-pan-shrimp-fried-rice-easy-dinner.html) [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/12/multimedia/08ST-YOUNG-AI-01-mqvh/08ST-YOUNG-AI-01-mqvh-thumbLarge.jpg)These A.I. Dreamers Don’t Fit the Stereotype](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/style/ai-tech-san-francisco.html) Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/26/us/politics/trump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html#after-pp_edpick) No modern American politician can match Mr. Trump’s record of [false](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/fact-checks) or [illogical](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/02/us/politics/trump-twitter-presidency.html) statements, which has invited questions about his intelligence. Insinuations and gaffes have trailed former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Dan Quayle and [Joseph R. Biden Jr.](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/elections/joe-biden.html), now the presumptive Democratic nominee, among many others. But Mr. Trump’s stark pronouncement — on live television, amid a grave public health crisis, and leaving little room for interpretation — was at once in a class of its own and wholly consistent with a reputation for carelessness in speech. Image ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/04/26/us/politics/26virus-disinfectant-memo-03/26virus-disinfectant-memo-03-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) A spokesman for Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s campaign called the Trump team’s effort to portray Mr. Biden as doddering “a distraction tactic.” Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times Still, for weeks, the president’s political team has been strikingly explicit about its intended messaging against Mr. Biden: presenting him as a doddering 77-year-old not up to the rigors of the office — and setting off on the kind of whisper campaign that does not bother with whispers. A Trump campaign Twitter account on Saturday celebrated the anniversary of Mr. Biden’s 2020 bid by highlighting all that he had “forgotten” as a candidate, with corresponding video clips of momentary flubs and verbal stumbles: “Joe Biden forgot the name of the coronavirus.” “Joe Biden forgot the G7 was not the G8.” “Joe Biden forgot Super Tuesday was on a Tuesday.” On Sunday, the Trump campaign made clear that the disinfectant affair would not disrupt its plans. “Joe Biden is often lost,” said Tim Murtaugh, a Trump campaign spokesman, “losing his train of thought during friendly interviews, even when he relies on written notes in front of him.” T.J. Ducklo, a Biden spokesman, called this approach “a distraction tactic — as if anything could erase the memory of the president suggesting people drink disinfectant on national television.” ## [Trump Administration: Live Updates](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02/13/us/trump-news) Updated Feb. 13, 2026, 10:44 p.m. ET2 hours ago - [Three federal officers injured in Los Angeles protests.](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02/13/us/trump-news#dhs-ice-agents-injured) - [Trump files final plans for the White House ballroom.](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02/13/us/trump-news#trump-files-final-plans-for-white-house-ballroom) - [Judge orders ICE to let clergy provide ashes and communion to detained immigrants.](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02/13/us/trump-news#ice-detention-catholics-ash-wednesday) Carlos Curbelo, a Republican former Florida congressman who clashed at times with Mr. Trump and did not vote for him, said the president’s comments on disinfectants were likely to resonate precisely because he was running a race premised largely on Mr. Biden’s mental capacity. “Given Joe Biden’s gaffes and mistakes, I think the Trump campaign had a strong narrative there,” he said. “At the very least, that advantage was completely erased.” Mr. Curbelo said a friend had suggested recently that Mr. Trump’s toxic virus idea was “the craziest thing he ever said.” “I said, ‘I don’t know,’” Mr. Curbelo recalled. “‘Maybe. I’d have to look back and check.’” This history, of course, is the argument for Democratic caution. The list of episodes that were supposed to end Mr. Trump — the “Access Hollywood” tape, the “very fine people” on both sides of a white supremacist rally, insulting John McCain’s service as a prisoner of war — is longer than most voters’ memories. The president can register as more [time-bending](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/29/us/politics/trump-news-overload.html) than Teflon. Plenty sticks to him; it just tends to be buried quickly enough by the next stack of outrages, limiting the exposure of any single one. But if most Trump admirers have long since made up their minds about him, recent polling on his handling of the crisis does suggest some measure of electoral risk. Governors and public health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci are viewed as far more trustworthy on the pandemic, according to surveys. Image ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/04/26/us/politics/26virus-disinfectant-memo-02/26virus-disinfectant-memo-02-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Drs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, the top public health officials overseeing the federal response to the coronavirus, have struggled at times to clarify Mr. Trump’s off-the-cuff statements.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times Lily Adams, a former aide on the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, who is now advising Unite the Country, a pro-Biden super PAC, said that swing voters in focus groups were especially dismayed at Mr. Trump’s refusal to listen to experts. “Any person who has ever done a load of laundry, or installed a childproof lock on a cleaning supplies cabinet, or just looked at one of those skulls on the label, knows it’s an idiotic idea,” she said. Even some of the president’s reliable cheerleaders at Fox News have [not tried](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/business/media/virus-fox-trump-disinfectant.html) to defend him. And recent visitors to the Drudge Report — the powerful conservative news aggregation site whose proprietor, Matt Drudge, has increasingly ridiculed Mr. Trump of late — were greeted with a doctored image of “Clorox Chewables.” “Trump Recommended,” the tagline read. “Don’t Die Maybe!” For Mr. Trump, such mockery tends to singe. Since long before his 2016 campaign, few subjects have been as meaningful to him as appraisals of his intellect. It is a source of perpetual obsession and manifest insecurity, former aides say, so much so that Mr. Trump has felt the need to allude to his brainpower regularly: tales of his academic credentials at the University of Pennsylvania; his “natural ability” in complicated disciplines; his connection to a “super genius” uncle, [an engineer](https://www.nytimes.com/1985/02/26/us/john-trump-dies-engineer-was-78.html) who taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. When Rex Tillerson, the president’s first secretary of state, was [reported](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/tillerson-s-fury-trump-required-intervention-pence-n806451) to have called Mr. Trump a “moron” in private — one of several former senior administration officials said to have rendered equivalent verdicts — Mr. Trump challenged him to “compare I.Q. tests.” A favorite Trump insult on Twitter, [reserved for Mr. Biden](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1107631297076305920) among others, is “low I.Q. individual.” “He doesn’t want to feel like anybody is better than he is,” said Barbara A. Res, a former executive vice president of the Trump Organization, who recalled Mr. Trump bragging about his college grades. “He can’t deal with that. I can see it now with the doctors, and that’s why he dismisses them. He used to be intimidated by lawyers. Anyone who knows more than he does makes him feel less than he is.” Steve Schmidt, a former Republican strategist and prominent Trump critic, said the president’s meditation on disinfectants stood apart from a trope that Mr. Schmidt came to recognize as an adviser to conservatives like Mr. Bush: “that the conservative candidate in the race was also always portrayed as the dumb candidate.” “But a caricature is distinct from a narrative,” Mr. Schmidt said. And Mr. Trump’s reckless medical fare, he reasoned, had given adversaries a narrative by confirming a caricature. The president’s own [attempts at damage control](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/us/politics/trump-inject-disinfectant-bleach-coronavirus.html) have been scattershot. First, his new press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, accused the news media of taking Mr. Trump out of context. Shortly afterward, he undercut her case by saying his comments had in fact been a sarcastic prank on reporters, an explanation even some supporters found implausible. He left his Friday briefing on the coronavirus without taking questions. By Saturday, when Mr. Trump tweeted that the events were “[not worth the time & effort](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/25/us/coronavirus-news.html),” his opponents conceded this much: The president had probably done something smart. More on President Trump and the Coronavirus [![]()Trump Muses About Light as Remedy, but Also Disinfectant, Which Is Dangerous April 24, 2020](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/health/sunlight-coronavirus-trump.html) [![]()Nervous Republicans See Trump Sinking, and Taking Senate With Him April 25, 2020](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/25/us/politics/trump-election-briefings.html) [![]()He Could Have Seen What Was Coming: Behind Trump’s Failure on the Virus April 11, 2020](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/11/us/politics/coronavirus-trump-response.html) [Matt Flegenheimer](https://www.nytimes.com/by/matt-flegenheimer) is a reporter covering national politics. He started at The Times in 2011 on the Metro desk covering transit, City Hall and campaigns. A version of this article appears in print on April 27, 2020, Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: A Disinfectant That May Mar Trump’s Teflon. [Order Reprints](https://nytimes.wrightsmedia.com/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https://www.nytimes.com/section/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/Multiproduct/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY) See more on: [Donald Trump](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/donald-trump), [U.S. Politics](https://www.nytimes.com/section/politics) Read 1,789 comments - Share full article - 1\.8k * ## The Latest on the Trump Administration * - Aircraft Carrier to Middle East: The U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford and its escort ships [will leave the Caribbean](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/us/politics/uss-ford-venezuela-oil.html) and join the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group as part of President Trump’s resurgent pressure campaign against Iran’s leaders. - Power of Public Anger: The Trump administration’s pullback of immigration agents in Minnesota came as polls [showed Americans opposing the president’s tactics](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/us/politics/trump-minneapolis-ice-republicans.html), and as some Republican lawmakers began to find ways to distance themselves. - Pardoning Ex-N.F.L. Players: [Trump pardoned five former athletes](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/us/politics/trump-nfl-pardons-klecko-jamal-lewis.html), including Super Bowl champions, a Hall of Famer and a Heisman Trophy winner, for crimes ranging from perjury to drug trafficking. - Public Health Funds: A judge in Illinois [blocked the Trump administration’s plan to claw back \$600 million](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/us/politics/trump-health-funding-cuts-ruling.html) in funds from four states led by Democrats, amid a wider effort by the U.S. government to pull funding from blue states. - Partial Government Shutdown: A lapse in funding for the Department of Homeland Security probably won’t bring immigration enforcement operations to a screeching halt, [but it is also home to other agencies](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/us/politics/dhs-shutdown-impact-ice-tsa-coast-guard.html), including the Coast Guard and FEMA. - Attack on Climate Regulation: The Trump administration [has repealed the scientific determination that underpins the government’s legal authority](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/climate/trump-epa-greenhouse-gases-climate-change.html) to combat climate change. [Here’s what to know](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/climate/what-to-know-epa-endangerment-finding.html). * How We Report on the Trump Administration** Hundreds of readers asked about our coverage of the president. Times editors and reporters [responded to some of the most common questions](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/insider/how-the-new-york-times-reports-on-trump.html). ## Related Content ### [More in Politics](https://www.nytimes.com/section/politics) - [Top Republican Ends Bid for Arizona Governor, Showing MAGA’s Power](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/us/politics/karrin-taylor-robson-andy-biggs-arizona-governor.html) ![Karrin Taylor Robson had earned President Trump’s early endorsement, but he later also bestowed his support to Representative Andy Biggs, a member of the hard-line Freedom Caucus.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/12/multimedia/pol-taylor-robson-tmpc/pol-taylor-robson-tmpc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Caitlin O'Hara for The New York Times - [Trump Nominates an Apostle of ‘White Erasure’ for the State Department](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/us/politics/jeremy-carl-claremont-institute-senate-hearing.html) ![Jeremy Carl, nominee to be an Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations, at a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., this week.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/13/multimedia/13nat-carl-1-gptf/13nat-carl-1-gptf-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Elizabeth Frantz for The New York Times - [Gallup Will No Longer Track Presidential Approval Ratings](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/us/politics/gallup-poll-presidential-approval-ratings-trump.html) ![Gallup’s decision comes as President Trump has escalated his threats against the press, and has sued several news media organizations, including at least one pollster, over the last several years.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/11/multimedia/11nat-gallup-mbwq/11nat-gallup-mbwq-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times - [Why Pennsylvania’s Two Most Powerful Democrats Don’t Speak](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/us/politics/john-fetterman-josh-shapiro-pennsylvania.html) ![Senator John Fetterman and Gov. Josh Shapiro were both rising Democratic stars when they won their offices in 2022. Since then, their political trajectories have diverged.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/05/us/politics/pol-shapiro-fetterman/pol-shapiro-fetterman-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Eric Lee for The New York Times, Greg Kahn for The New York Times ### Editors’ Picks - [I Had Buyer’s Remorse. It Almost Ended My Marriage.](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/style/modern-love-i-had-buyers-remorse-it-almost-ended-my-marriage.html) ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/15/fashion/15ST-MODERN-REALESTATE-DELAMARTRE/15ST-MODERN-REALESTATE-DELAMARTRE-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Brian Rea - [Three’s a Crowd](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/realestate/couples-roommates-housing-costs.html) ![Nicola Munson, her boyfriend, Leo Dolan (left), and Gil Young at their shared home in Los Angeles.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/13/multimedia/13re-married-with-roommates-qkfg/13re-married-with-roommates-qkfg-square640-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Jennelle Fong for The New York Times ### Trending in The Times - [Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/technology/meta-facial-recognition-smart-glasses.html) ![The maker of Meta’s smart glasses said it sold more than seven million pairs last year. ](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/11/multimedia/BIZ-META-FACIAL-RECOGNITION-2-qwtg/BIZ-META-FACIAL-RECOGNITION-2-qwtg-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Lucia Vazquez for The New York Times - [How to Sleep With Other People](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/realestate/how-to-sleep-with-other-people.html) ![Unlock better sleep.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/15/realestate/11re-sleeping-with-other-people-ILLO/11re-sleeping-with-other-people-ILLO-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Nicolas Ortega - [Sales at McDonald’s Rise, Driven by Value Meals and Grinch Socks](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/business/mcdonalds-earnings-sales-value-meals.html) ![It has been a tough slog for restaurants over the past year as many contend with a slowdown in eating out among consumers.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/11/05/multimedia/11biz-mcdonalds-earnings/05biz-mcdonalds-hlgc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) John Taggart for The New York Times - [‘Wuthering Heights’ \\| Anatomy of a Scene](https://www.nytimes.com/video/movies/100000010705309/wuthering-heights-anatomy-of-a-scene.html) ![Margot Robbie in “Wuthering Heights.”](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/13/multimedia/wuthering-heights-anatomy-khqb/wuthering-heights-anatomy-khqb-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Warner Bros. Pictures - [Deception and Dependency: Inside the Latest Epstein Files](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/podcasts/the-daily/epstein-files-business-political-leaders.html) ![The Department of Justice released the largest batch of Jeffrey Epstein files to date last month, including three million pages of documents and thousands of videos and images.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/10/multimedia/10DAILY-epstein-roundtable-jqcp/10DAILY-epstein-roundtable-jqcp-square640-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Jon Elswick/Associated Press - [Opinion: Something Surprising Happens When Bus Rides Are Free](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/opinion/free-bus-rides-mamdani.html) ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/16/opinion/10almanza/10almanza-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Brian Blomerth - [Switzerland to Vote on Capping Population at 10 Million](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/world/europe/switzerland-to-vote-on-capping-population-at-10-million.html) ![A man walking with two children in Zurich. Switzerland will vote in June on a proposal to cap its population at 10 million through 2050.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/11/multimedia/11int-switzerland-population-wkbt/11int-switzerland-population-wkbt-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Michael Buholzer/EPA, via Shutterstock - [A Watch Brand From ‘So Many Places’](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/fashion/watches-moels-gdansk-poland.html) ![Betina Menescal, the founder of Möels & Co, sitting, with her father, Marcos, the company chief executive. Ms. Menescal’s mother and sister also work with the company.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/12/multimedia/12sp-watches-moels-inyt-01-fthp/12sp-watches-moels-inyt-01-fthp-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Andreas Meichsner for The New York Times - [See the Jumps That Knocked Ilia Malinin Off the Podium](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/02/13/sports/olympics-figure-skating-results-malinin.html) ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/13/multimedia/2026-02-11-figure-skating-mens-final-index/2026-02-11-figure-skating-mens-final-index-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) The New York Times - [A Speedy Approach to Breaking Fast This Ramadan](https://cooking.nytimes.com/article/breaking-fast-ramadan) ![A thin layer of spiced ground meat cooks quickly under the broiler when it’s spread onto pitas.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/13/multimedia/13FD-EARLY-IFTAR-1-cvmh/13FD-EARLY-IFTAR-1-cvmh-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/26/us/politics/trump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html#after-bottom) ## Site Index [Go to Home Page »](https://www.nytimes.com/) News - [Home Page](https://www.nytimes.com/) - [U.S.](https://www.nytimes.com/section/us) - [World](https://www.nytimes.com/section/world) - [Politics](https://www.nytimes.com/section/politics) - [New York](https://www.nytimes.com/section/nyregion) - [Education](https://www.nytimes.com/section/education) - [Sports](https://www.nytimes.com/section/sports) - [Business](https://www.nytimes.com/section/business) - [Tech](https://www.nytimes.com/section/technology) - [Science](https://www.nytimes.com/section/science) - [Weather](https://www.nytimes.com/section/weather) - [The Great Read](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/the-great-read) - [Obituaries](https://www.nytimes.com/section/obituaries) - [Headway](https://www.nytimes.com/section/headway) - [Visual Investigations](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/visual-investigations) - [The Magazine](https://www.nytimes.com/section/magazine) Arts - [Book Review](https://www.nytimes.com/section/books/review) - [Best Sellers Book List](https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/) - [Dance](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/dance) - [Movies](https://www.nytimes.com/section/movies) - [Music](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/music) - [Pop Culture](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/pop-culture) - [Television](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/television) - [Theater](https://www.nytimes.com/section/theater) - [Visual Arts](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/design) Lifestyle - [Health](https://www.nytimes.com/section/health) - [Well](https://www.nytimes.com/section/well) - [Food](https://www.nytimes.com/section/food) - [Restaurant Reviews](https://www.nytimes.com/reviews/dining) - [Love](https://www.nytimes.com/section/fashion/weddings) - [Travel](https://www.nytimes.com/section/travel) - [Style](https://www.nytimes.com/section/style) - [Fashion](https://www.nytimes.com/section/fashion) - [Real Estate](https://www.nytimes.com/section/realestate) - [T Magazine](https://www.nytimes.com/section/t-magazine) Opinion - [Today's Opinion](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion) - [Columnists](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/columnists) - [Editorials](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/editorials) - [Guest Essays](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/contributors) - [Op-Docs](https://www.nytimes.com/column/op-docs) - [Letters](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/letters) - [Sunday Opinion](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/sunday) - [Opinion Video](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/opinion-video) - [Opinion Audio](https://www.nytimes.com/series/opinion-audio) More - [Audio](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/podcasts) - [Games](https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords) - [Cooking](https://cooking.nytimes.com/) - [Wirecutter](https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/) - [The Athletic](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/) - [Jobs](https://www.nytimes.com/section/jobs) - [Video](https://www.nytimes.com/video) - [Graphics](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/graphics) - [Trending](https://www.nytimes.com/trending/) - [Live Events](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/nyt-events) - [Corrections](https://www.nytimes.com/section/corrections) - [Reader Center](https://www.nytimes.com/section/reader-center) - [TimesMachine](https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/browser) - [The Learning Network](https://www.nytimes.com/section/learning) - [School of The NYT](https://nytedu.com/) - [inEducation](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/nytimesineducation) ### News - [Home Page](https://www.nytimes.com/) - [U.S.](https://www.nytimes.com/section/us) - [World](https://www.nytimes.com/section/world) - [Politics](https://www.nytimes.com/section/politics) - [New York](https://www.nytimes.com/section/nyregion) - [Education](https://www.nytimes.com/section/education) - [Sports](https://www.nytimes.com/section/sports) - [Business](https://www.nytimes.com/section/business) - [Tech](https://www.nytimes.com/section/technology) - [Science](https://www.nytimes.com/section/science) - [Weather](https://www.nytimes.com/section/weather) - [The Great Read](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/the-great-read) - [Obituaries](https://www.nytimes.com/section/obituaries) - [Headway](https://www.nytimes.com/section/headway) - [Visual Investigations](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/visual-investigations) - [The Magazine](https://www.nytimes.com/section/magazine) ### Arts - [Book Review](https://www.nytimes.com/section/books/review) - [Best Sellers Book List](https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/) - [Dance](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/dance) - [Movies](https://www.nytimes.com/section/movies) - [Music](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/music) - [Pop Culture](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/pop-culture) - [Television](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/television) - [Theater](https://www.nytimes.com/section/theater) - [Visual Arts](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/design) ### Lifestyle - [Health](https://www.nytimes.com/section/health) - [Well](https://www.nytimes.com/section/well) - [Food](https://www.nytimes.com/section/food) - [Restaurant Reviews](https://www.nytimes.com/reviews/dining) - [Love](https://www.nytimes.com/section/fashion/weddings) - [Travel](https://www.nytimes.com/section/travel) - [Style](https://www.nytimes.com/section/style) - [Fashion](https://www.nytimes.com/section/fashion) - [Real Estate](https://www.nytimes.com/section/realestate) - [T Magazine](https://www.nytimes.com/section/t-magazine) ### Opinion - [Today's Opinion](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion) - [Columnists](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/columnists) - [Editorials](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/editorials) - [Guest Essays](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/contributors) - [Op-Docs](https://www.nytimes.com/column/op-docs) - [Letters](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/letters) - [Sunday Opinion](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/sunday) - [Opinion Video](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/opinion-video) - [Opinion Audio](https://www.nytimes.com/series/opinion-audio) ### More - [Audio](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/podcasts) - [Games](https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords) - [Cooking](https://cooking.nytimes.com/) - [Wirecutter](https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/) - [The Athletic](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/) - [Jobs](https://www.nytimes.com/section/jobs) - [Video](https://www.nytimes.com/video) - [Graphics](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/graphics) - [Trending](https://www.nytimes.com/trending/) - [Live Events](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/nyt-events) - [Corrections](https://www.nytimes.com/section/corrections) - [Reader Center](https://www.nytimes.com/section/reader-center) - [TimesMachine](https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/browser) - [The Learning Network](https://www.nytimes.com/section/learning) - [School of The NYT](https://nytedu.com/) - [inEducation](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/nytimesineducation) ### Account - [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription) - [Manage My Account](https://www.nytimes.com/account) - [Home Delivery](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription/home-delivery) - [Gift Subscriptions](https://www.nytimes.com/gift) - [Group Subscriptions](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription/groups?Pardot_Campaign_Code_Form_Input=89FQX) - [Gift Articles](https://www.nytimes.com/gift-articles) - [Email Newsletters](https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters) - [NYT Licensing](https://nytlicensing.com/) - [Replica Edition](https://nytimes.pressreader.com/) - [Times Store](https://store.nytimes.com/) ## Site Information Navigation - [© 2026 The New York Times Company](https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115014792127-Copyright-Notice) - [NYTCo](https://www.nytco.com/) - [Contact Us](https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015385887-Contact-The-New-York-Times) - [Accessibility](https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015727108-Accessibility) - [Work with us](https://www.nytco.com/careers/) - [Advertise](https://advertising.nytimes.com/) - [T Brand Studio](https://advertising.nytimes.com/custom-content/) - [Privacy Policy](https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/10940941449492-The-New-York-Times-Company-Privacy-Policy) - [Cookie Policy](https://www.nytimes.com/privacy/cookie-policy) - [Terms of Service](https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115014893428-Terms-of-Service) - [Terms of Sale](https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115014893968-Terms-of-Sale) - [Site Map](https://www.nytimes.com/sitemap/) - [Canada](https://www.nytimes.com/ca/) - [International](https://www.nytimes.com/international/) - [Help](https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us) - [Subscriptions](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=37WXW)
Readable Markdown	Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/26/us/politics/trump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html#after-top) Political Memo The president has often said he is exceptionally smart. His recent suggestion about injecting disinfectants was not. ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/04/28/us/politics/26virus-disinfectant-memo/merlin_171872820_ac94b047-74a7-459d-98c5-df7778586e2a-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) President Trump suggested on Thursday that an “injection inside” the body with a disinfectant like bleach could help fight the coronavirus.Credit...Al Drago for The New York Times April 26, 2020 President Trump’s self-assessment has been consistent. “I’m, like, a very smart person,” he assured voters in 2016. “A very stable genius,” he ruled two years later. “I’m not a doctor,” he allowed on Thursday, pointing to his skull inside the White House briefing room, “but I’m, like, a person that has a good you-know-what.” Mr. Trump’s performance that evening, when he [suggested that injections of disinfectants](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/us/politics/trump-inject-disinfectant-bleach-coronavirus.html) into the human body could help combat the coronavirus, did not sound like the work of a doctor, a genius, or a person with a good you-know-what. Even by the turbulent standards of this president, his musings on virus remedies have landed with uncommon force, drawing widespread condemnation as dangerous to the health of Americans and inspiring a near-universal alarm that many of his past remarks — whether offensive or fear-mongering or simply untrue — did not. Mr. Trump’s typical name-calling can be recast to receptive audiences as mere “counterpunching.” His impeachment was explained away as the dastardly opus of overreaching Democrats. It is more difficult to insist that the man floating disinfectant injection knows what he’s doing. The reaction has so rattled the president’s allies and advisers that he was compelled over the weekend to [remove himself from the pandemic briefings](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/25/us/coronavirus-news.html) entirely, at least temporarily accepting two fates he loathes: giving in to advice (from Republicans who said the appearances [did far more harm than good](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/25/us/politics/trump-election-briefings.html) to his political standing) and surrendering the mass viewership he relishes. Some at the White House have expressed frustration that the issue has lingered. “It bothers me that this is still in the news cycle,” Dr. Deborah Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator, told CNN on Sunday, adding, “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.” Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, a Republican who has been willing to speak skeptically about Mr. Trump’s virus leadership, said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that it “does send a wrong message” when misinformation spreads from a public official or “you just say something that pops in your head.” Asked to explain the president’s words, Mr. Hogan said, “You know, I can’t really explain it.” No modern American politician can match Mr. Trump’s record of [false](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/fact-checks) or [illogical](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/02/us/politics/trump-twitter-presidency.html) statements, which has invited questions about his intelligence. Insinuations and gaffes have trailed former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Dan Quayle and [Joseph R. Biden Jr.](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/elections/joe-biden.html), now the presumptive Democratic nominee, among many others. But Mr. Trump’s stark pronouncement — on live television, amid a grave public health crisis, and leaving little room for interpretation — was at once in a class of its own and wholly consistent with a reputation for carelessness in speech. Image ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/04/26/us/politics/26virus-disinfectant-memo-03/26virus-disinfectant-memo-03-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) A spokesman for Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s campaign called the Trump team’s effort to portray Mr. Biden as doddering “a distraction tactic.” Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times Still, for weeks, the president’s political team has been strikingly explicit about its intended messaging against Mr. Biden: presenting him as a doddering 77-year-old not up to the rigors of the office — and setting off on the kind of whisper campaign that does not bother with whispers. A Trump campaign Twitter account on Saturday celebrated the anniversary of Mr. Biden’s 2020 bid by highlighting all that he had “forgotten” as a candidate, with corresponding video clips of momentary flubs and verbal stumbles: “Joe Biden forgot the name of the coronavirus.” “Joe Biden forgot the G7 was not the G8.” “Joe Biden forgot Super Tuesday was on a Tuesday.” On Sunday, the Trump campaign made clear that the disinfectant affair would not disrupt its plans. “Joe Biden is often lost,” said Tim Murtaugh, a Trump campaign spokesman, “losing his train of thought during friendly interviews, even when he relies on written notes in front of him.” T.J. Ducklo, a Biden spokesman, called this approach “a distraction tactic — as if anything could erase the memory of the president suggesting people drink disinfectant on national television.” Carlos Curbelo, a Republican former Florida congressman who clashed at times with Mr. Trump and did not vote for him, said the president’s comments on disinfectants were likely to resonate precisely because he was running a race premised largely on Mr. Biden’s mental capacity. “Given Joe Biden’s gaffes and mistakes, I think the Trump campaign had a strong narrative there,” he said. “At the very least, that advantage was completely erased.” Mr. Curbelo said a friend had suggested recently that Mr. Trump’s toxic virus idea was “the craziest thing he ever said.” “I said, ‘I don’t know,’” Mr. Curbelo recalled. “‘Maybe. I’d have to look back and check.’” This history, of course, is the argument for Democratic caution. The list of episodes that were supposed to end Mr. Trump — the “Access Hollywood” tape, the “very fine people” on both sides of a white supremacist rally, insulting John McCain’s service as a prisoner of war — is longer than most voters’ memories. The president can register as more [time-bending](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/29/us/politics/trump-news-overload.html) than Teflon. Plenty sticks to him; it just tends to be buried quickly enough by the next stack of outrages, limiting the exposure of any single one. But if most Trump admirers have long since made up their minds about him, recent polling on his handling of the crisis does suggest some measure of electoral risk. Governors and public health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci are viewed as far more trustworthy on the pandemic, according to surveys. Image ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/04/26/us/politics/26virus-disinfectant-memo-02/26virus-disinfectant-memo-02-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Drs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, the top public health officials overseeing the federal response to the coronavirus, have struggled at times to clarify Mr. Trump’s off-the-cuff statements.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times Lily Adams, a former aide on the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, who is now advising Unite the Country, a pro-Biden super PAC, said that swing voters in focus groups were especially dismayed at Mr. Trump’s refusal to listen to experts. “Any person who has ever done a load of laundry, or installed a childproof lock on a cleaning supplies cabinet, or just looked at one of those skulls on the label, knows it’s an idiotic idea,” she said. Even some of the president’s reliable cheerleaders at Fox News have [not tried](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/business/media/virus-fox-trump-disinfectant.html) to defend him. And recent visitors to the Drudge Report — the powerful conservative news aggregation site whose proprietor, Matt Drudge, has increasingly ridiculed Mr. Trump of late — were greeted with a doctored image of “Clorox Chewables.” “Trump Recommended,” the tagline read. “Don’t Die Maybe!” For Mr. Trump, such mockery tends to singe. Since long before his 2016 campaign, few subjects have been as meaningful to him as appraisals of his intellect. It is a source of perpetual obsession and manifest insecurity, former aides say, so much so that Mr. Trump has felt the need to allude to his brainpower regularly: tales of his academic credentials at the University of Pennsylvania; his “natural ability” in complicated disciplines; his connection to a “super genius” uncle, [an engineer](https://www.nytimes.com/1985/02/26/us/john-trump-dies-engineer-was-78.html) who taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. When Rex Tillerson, the president’s first secretary of state, was [reported](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/tillerson-s-fury-trump-required-intervention-pence-n806451) to have called Mr. Trump a “moron” in private — one of several former senior administration officials said to have rendered equivalent verdicts — Mr. Trump challenged him to “compare I.Q. tests.” A favorite Trump insult on Twitter, [reserved for Mr. Biden](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1107631297076305920) among others, is “low I.Q. individual.” “He doesn’t want to feel like anybody is better than he is,” said Barbara A. Res, a former executive vice president of the Trump Organization, who recalled Mr. Trump bragging about his college grades. “He can’t deal with that. I can see it now with the doctors, and that’s why he dismisses them. He used to be intimidated by lawyers. Anyone who knows more than he does makes him feel less than he is.” Steve Schmidt, a former Republican strategist and prominent Trump critic, said the president’s meditation on disinfectants stood apart from a trope that Mr. Schmidt came to recognize as an adviser to conservatives like Mr. Bush: “that the conservative candidate in the race was also always portrayed as the dumb candidate.” “But a caricature is distinct from a narrative,” Mr. Schmidt said. And Mr. Trump’s reckless medical fare, he reasoned, had given adversaries a narrative by confirming a caricature. The president’s own [attempts at damage control](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/us/politics/trump-inject-disinfectant-bleach-coronavirus.html) have been scattershot. First, his new press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, accused the news media of taking Mr. Trump out of context. Shortly afterward, he undercut her case by saying his comments had in fact been a sarcastic prank on reporters, an explanation even some supporters found implausible. He left his Friday briefing on the coronavirus without taking questions. By Saturday, when Mr. Trump tweeted that the events were “[not worth the time & effort](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/25/us/coronavirus-news.html),” his opponents conceded this much: The president had probably done something smart. [Matt Flegenheimer](https://www.nytimes.com/by/matt-flegenheimer) is a reporter covering national politics. He started at The Times in 2011 on the Metro desk covering transit, City Hall and campaigns. A version of this article appears in print on April 27, 2020, Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: A Disinfectant That May Mar Trump’s Teflon. [Order Reprints](https://nytimes.wrightsmedia.com/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https://www.nytimes.com/section/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/Multiproduct/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY) ## Related Content [More in Politics](https://www.nytimes.com/section/politics) - ![Karrin Taylor Robson had earned President Trump’s early endorsement, but he later also bestowed his support to Representative Andy Biggs, a member of the hard-line Freedom Caucus.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/12/multimedia/pol-taylor-robson-tmpc/pol-taylor-robson-tmpc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Caitlin O'Hara for The New York Times - ![Jeremy Carl, nominee to be an Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations, at a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., this week.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/13/multimedia/13nat-carl-1-gptf/13nat-carl-1-gptf-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Elizabeth Frantz for The New York Times - ![Gallup’s decision comes as President Trump has escalated his threats against the press, and has sued several news media organizations, including at least one pollster, over the last several years.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/11/multimedia/11nat-gallup-mbwq/11nat-gallup-mbwq-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times - ![Senator John Fetterman and Gov. Josh Shapiro were both rising Democratic stars when they won their offices in 2022. Since then, their political trajectories have diverged.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/05/us/politics/pol-shapiro-fetterman/pol-shapiro-fetterman-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Eric Lee for The New York Times, Greg Kahn for The New York Times Editors’ Picks - ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/15/fashion/15ST-MODERN-REALESTATE-DELAMARTRE/15ST-MODERN-REALESTATE-DELAMARTRE-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Brian Rea - ![Nicola Munson, her boyfriend, Leo Dolan (left), and Gil Young at their shared home in Los Angeles.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/13/multimedia/13re-married-with-roommates-qkfg/13re-married-with-roommates-qkfg-square640-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Jennelle Fong for The New York Times Trending in The Times - ![The maker of Meta’s smart glasses said it sold more than seven million pairs last year. ](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/11/multimedia/BIZ-META-FACIAL-RECOGNITION-2-qwtg/BIZ-META-FACIAL-RECOGNITION-2-qwtg-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Lucia Vazquez for The New York Times - ![Unlock better sleep.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/15/realestate/11re-sleeping-with-other-people-ILLO/11re-sleeping-with-other-people-ILLO-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Nicolas Ortega - ![It has been a tough slog for restaurants over the past year as many contend with a slowdown in eating out among consumers.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/11/05/multimedia/11biz-mcdonalds-earnings/05biz-mcdonalds-hlgc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) John Taggart for The New York Times - ![Margot Robbie in “Wuthering Heights.”](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/13/multimedia/wuthering-heights-anatomy-khqb/wuthering-heights-anatomy-khqb-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Warner Bros. Pictures - ![The Department of Justice released the largest batch of Jeffrey Epstein files to date last month, including three million pages of documents and thousands of videos and images.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/10/multimedia/10DAILY-epstein-roundtable-jqcp/10DAILY-epstein-roundtable-jqcp-square640-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Jon Elswick/Associated Press - ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/16/opinion/10almanza/10almanza-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Brian Blomerth - ![A man walking with two children in Zurich. Switzerland will vote in June on a proposal to cap its population at 10 million through 2050.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/11/multimedia/11int-switzerland-population-wkbt/11int-switzerland-population-wkbt-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Michael Buholzer/EPA, via Shutterstock - ![Betina Menescal, the founder of Möels & Co, sitting, with her father, Marcos, the company chief executive. Ms. Menescal’s mother and sister also work with the company.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/12/multimedia/12sp-watches-moels-inyt-01-fthp/12sp-watches-moels-inyt-01-fthp-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Andreas Meichsner for The New York Times - ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/13/multimedia/2026-02-11-figure-skating-mens-final-index/2026-02-11-figure-skating-mens-final-index-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) The New York Times - ![A thin layer of spiced ground meat cooks quickly under the broiler when it’s spread onto pitas.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/13/multimedia/13FD-EARLY-IFTAR-1-cvmh/13FD-EARLY-IFTAR-1-cvmh-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/26/us/politics/trump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html#after-bottom)
Shard	84 (laksa)
Root Hash	4566504020376537684
Unparsed URL	com,nytimes!www,/2020/04/26/us/politics/trump-disinfectant-coronavirus.html s443