The White House on Friday criticized the establishment media for running misleading stories about the president speculating on injecting bleach to kill the coronavirus.

“Leave it to the media to irresponsibly take President Trump out of context and run with negative headlines,” White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement.

The president never used the word “bleach” and although he questioned whether it was possible to use disinfectants “by injection inside” he later clarified, “it wouldn’t be through injection.”

The White House said the president has always said any discussions of treatments should be discussed with doctors.

“President Trump has repeatedly said that Americans should consult with medical doctors regarding coronavirus treatment, a point that he emphasized again during yesterday’s briefing,” McEnany said.

Read the two exchanges the president had with Acting Undersecretary of Science and Technology for the Department of Homeland Security Bill Bryan and ABC News White House correspondent Jon Karl:

President Trump: 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. President Trump: 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. So we’ll see. But the whole concept of the light, the way it kills it in one minute, that’s — that’s pretty powerful. … Jon Karl: But I — just, can I ask about — the President mentioned the idea of cleaners, like bleach and isopropyl alcohol you mentioned. There’s no scenario that that could be injected into a person, is there? I mean — Bryan: No, I’m here to talk about the findings that we had in the study. We won’t do that within that lab and our lab. So — President Trump: 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.

White House