Trump half-listened to what was said at a White House Coronavirus press briefing, stitched together the pieces of what he heard, and decided to suggest doctors look into the possibility of bleach as a cure for the virus. He later claimed it was a joke. Anyone who has watched footage of his rallies knows he cannot say anything he thinks is funny without smirking and pausing for laughter. There was nothing in this now notorious footage to suggest he was sarcastic. Follow the link to watch the video:

Trump Suggests Injections of Bleach

Trump’s thoughts on the matter would not be half as worrisome if they were not similar to something many parents of Autistic children already subject their children to, namely something called MMS, or “Miracle Mineral Supplement.”

The snake-oil sales people of MMS tell parents that they can cure their Autistic child with this “miracle treatment.” The concept began “Genesis II Church and Health Healing,” a church founded by a former Scientologist. Jim Humble avoided oversight for this bleaching agent’s use by claiming religious rights protections, calling the formula a sacred sacrament capable of overcoming most diseases known to man.

In 1996, Jim Humble claimed he observed chlorine dioxide’s effectiveness in treating malaria while on a mining expedition in South America. He claimed the bleaching agent was effective at eradicating  Alzheimer’s, HIV/AIDs, cancer, high blood pressure, infections, arthritis, depression, erectile dysfunction, MRSA, and autism (this list goes on). Not unlike Trump’s recommendation of hydroxychloroquine, Humble treated anecdotal evidence as fact.

Kerri Riviera, who served as a bishop in Humble’s church, told parents of Autistic children that MMS enemas would kill pathogens in the stomach that caused autism. Subsequently, there are parents who have bathed their children in the solution. They even have given it to them as a drink. Naturally, you will be asking yourself why these people were not thrown in jail for child endangerment. For starters, they tied-up the issue with religious rights arguments. They also claimed that MMS was not the same as household bleach, even though the active bleaching ingredients are the same.

Furthermore, parents have argued that MMS solution was used to bleach flour, which is true, but the quantities do not compare. Besides, people generally understand white flour to be unhealthy. MMS practitioners claim it is not dangerous because it does not contain sodium hypochlorite. This is not true, nor is there any truth to their unfounded claim that it can be used as a cure for almost every ailment known to man. It is alarming enough that parents are using MMS solution on their children. It is horrific that many parents are electing to use a low budget approach, using store shelf bleach rather than MMS.

Deaths have resulted, and not even all these have been prosecuted as homicides, further demonstrating how disabled people are not seen as fully human in our society. The truth is that the hesitation in criminalising parents’ actions subjecting their children to MMS and bleach reveals uncomfortable societal truths. Autistics are not seen as fully human, thus not deemed to possess full human rights. When the matter of criminalisation of practices such as these is discussed, too often, the desires of parents are given priority.