Fact Check: Democrat Rep. Robert Garcia Claims Donald Trump Told Americans to ‘Inject Bleach’

CLAIM: Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) claimed during the first night of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) that Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump told Americans “to inject bleach” into their bodies.

VERDICT: False. As Breitbart News has previously reported, the White House transcript shows that Trump was talking about the future use of experimental ultraviolet (UV) light technology and how it could be used as a disinfectant. Trump questioned if it would be possible to “inject” it into the human body but never suggested anyone should inject bleach.

During his speech at the DNC in Chicago, Illinois, on Monday, Garcia mentioned that, during the coronavirus pandemic, Trump “downplayed the virus” and told Americans to inject bleach.

“We all remember the world in 2020, where we were, and, for some of us, who we lost,” Garcia told the crowd. “Now, I was in my second term as mayor of Long Beach, California, and my mom was a healthcare worker. Like many of you, I watched in terror and horror as the COVID pandemic consumed our lives.”

“As mayor, I fought for more hospital beds, for more tests, and to make masks more accessible,” Garcia added:

What we needed at that moment was national leadership, but, instead, we got Donald Trump. While schools closed and dead bodies filled morgues, Donald Trump downplayed the virus. He told us to inject bleach into our bodies. He peddled conspiracy theories across the country.

The White House transcript shows that Trump said:

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. So I asked Bill a question that probably some of you are thinking of, if you’re totally into that world, which I find to be very interesting. So, supposing we hit the body with a tremendous – whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light – and I think you said that that hasn’t been checked, but you’re going to test it. And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way, and I think you said you’re going to test that too. It sounds interesting.

ACTING UNDER SECRETARY BRYAN: We’ll get to the right folks who could.

THE PRESIDENT: Right. 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.

When a reporter asked Trump if he was referring to a disinfectant being “injected into a person,” Trump clarified that “it wouldn’t be through injection.”

“THE PRESIDENT: It wouldn’t be through injection. We’re talking about through almost a cleaning, sterilization of an area. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t work. But it certainly has a big effect if it’s on a stationary object.”

While Trump’s words have been taken out of context, Democrats such as President Joe Biden and former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki have claimed that Trump told Americans to “inject bleach.”