Fact check: Trump lies that he was being ‘sarcastic’ when he talked about injecting disinfectant

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/24/politics/fact-check-trump-disinfectant-sarcastic

Facts First: Trump was not being “sarcastic” on Thursday when he raised the possibility of injecting disinfectant. There was simply no indication that he was being anything less than serious. He was also wrong Friday when he denied he had asked the medical experts to “check” the idea of disinfectant injections; he was looking at them at the time. And he did not mention hands during his Thursday remarks.

Here’s what Trump said Thursday while looking in the direction of coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx and Department of Homeland Security science official Bill Bryan: “And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning. Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that. So, that, you’re going to have to use medical doctors with. But it sounds – it sounds interesting to me.”

Trump has a history of falsely claiming that serious but controversial remarks had been sarcasm. For example, he has insisted that his famous 2016 “Russia, if you’re listening” request for Russia’s help obtaining Hillary Clinton emails was him being “sarcastic” and making “a joke.”