Donald Trump and Piers Morgan in 2010. Morgan is a former winner of Trump's TV reality show The Celebrity Apprentice. Photo / Getty Images
Donald Trump and Piers Morgan in 2010. Morgan is a former winner of Trump's TV reality show The Celebrity Apprentice. Photo / Getty Images
President Donald Trump has "unfollowed" British journalist Piers Morgan after a public spat over Trump's idea that injecting disinfectant could kill the coronavirus.
Morgan, a former winner of Trump's TV reality show The Celebrity Apprentice, famously predicted Trump's victory in 2016 and wrote: "It's weird being friends with someone who suddenly becomes President of the United States."
In his Daily Mail column, he wrote: "By far the most reckless and dangerous thing President Trump has done is use the most powerful podium on earth to air his batsh*t crazy theories about how to beat the virus.
Donald Trump and Piers Morgan in 2010. Morgan is a former winner of Trump's TV reality show The Celebrity Apprentice. Photo / Getty Images
"And last night he stooped to a shameful new low by suggesting people suffering from Covid-19 should be injected with toxic disinfectant."
The article, headed "President Trump's batsh*t crazy coronavirus 'cure' theories are not just shockingly senseless and stupid - they're going to kill people," didn't mince words.
"Shut the f--- up President Trump," was the opening line.
"It's hard to imagine a more stupid thing for a President to say than publicly float a completely unsubstantiated 'idea' like that which will inevitably make some Americans believe having bleach inside them will cure the virus," Morgan wrote.
"Yet that's exactly what he did."
Trump hit back by "unfollowing" Morgan on Twitter.
Trump made the dangerous claims during his Thursday briefing, after a US government homeland official revealed the results of tests that showed sunlight and UV rays helped kill the coronavirus.
In his bizarre, and potentially fatal, outburst, Trump suggested people could be injected with "disinfectant" and hit "the body with light" to cure coronavirus.
"Supposing we hit the body with a tremendous, whether it's ultraviolet or just very powerful light? And I think you said, that hasn't been checked but you're going to test it," Trump asked a homeland security official.
President Donald Trump asked scientists to look into whether injecting patients with disinfectant might cure coronavirus. Photo / File
"And then I said supposing you brought the light inside the body which you can do either through the skin or in some other way. And I think you said you're going to test that too. Sounds interesting," Trump said.
"And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute, one minute, and is there a way we can do something like that? By injection inside or almost a cleaning. As you see it gets in the lungs, and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that," he added.
"So that you're going to have to use medical doctors. But it sounds interesting to me."
Bleach and isopropyl alcohol - agents commonly used to kill the virus in the environment and surfaces - are toxic to the body when ingested, even in small amounts.
