SHUT THE F**K UP, PRESIDENT TRUMP.

Seriously.

Throughout this coronavirus crisis, the leader of the free world has turned the daily White House task force briefing into a rambling two-hour self-promoting rally.

He's devoted large chunks of them to trashing the media, attacking political opponents, telling us how great he is, and re-writing history as he tries to defend all the mistakes he's made since the virus first erupted.

And he's done all this while 50,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, the worst death toll in the world, and nearly a million cases have now been reported across the country.

But 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.

And last night he stooped to a shameful new low by suggesting people suffering from COVID-19 should be injected with toxic disinfectant.

Yes, you read that right.

President Donald Trump stooped to a shameful new low at yesterday's White House press conference by suggesting people suffering from COVID-19 should be injected with toxic disinfectant

He made the claim after William Bryan, the Department of Homeland Security under secretary for science and technology, gave a presentation about new research which supposedly shows 'emerging results' that coronavirus degrades faster in warm conditions and dies quickest when exposed to direct sunlight. He also said that his research also indicated bleach can kill the virus in five minutes, and a concentrated isopropyl alcohol solution can kill it in 30 seconds

During the press conference, Trump asked Dr Deborah Birx if she had ever heard of the 'heat and light' treatment to treat the virus. 'Not as a treatment,' she replied. 'I think it's a great thing to look at,' he countered

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.

Yet that's exactly what he did.

Trump made his absurd claim after William Bryan, the Department of Homeland Security under secretary for science and technology, gave a presentation about new research which supposedly shows 'emerging results' that coronavirus degrades faster in warm conditions and dies quickest when exposed to direct sunlight.

He didn't explain why if this is the case, the virus has wreaked havoc in warm weather parts of the US like Florida and New Orleans.

Bryan added that his research also indicated bleach can kill the virus in five minutes, and a concentrated isopropyl alcohol solution can kill it in 30 seconds.

The President loved what he was hearing and decided to proffer his own ideas after Bryan had finished.

His first was that irradiating patients' bodies with UV light might work too.

'Supposing we hit the body with a tremendous – whether it's ultraviolet or just very powerful light,' he said, turning to Dr Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response co-ordinator, whose blinking face remained wearily, impassive as he added: 'and I think you said that hasn't been checked but you're going to test it? And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside of the body, which you can do through either the skin or in some other way. And I think you said you're going to test that too? Sounds interesting.'

He asked Dr Birx if she had ever heard of the 'heat and light' treatment to treat the virus.

'Not as a treatment,' she replied.

'I think it's a great thing to look at,' he countered.

But this, it transpired, was just the warm-up – literally - for his BIG idea.

'And then I see the disinfectant where it knocks out in a minute,' Trump mused.

'One minute. And there is a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning? So, it will be interesting to check that.'

At this point Trump stated the only fact he uttered during this medical diatribe of nonsense: 'I'm not a doctor.'

No, Mr President, you're not – so why do you keep pretending to be one?

He gave his own answer to that question: 'I'm like a person that has a good you-know-what.'

No, I don't know what, actually.

I just see a president pretending to be a medical expert and spewing theories that might have disastrous consequences.

More than 50,000 people in the United States have died from coronavirus

Trump said that irradiating patients' bodies with UV light might work as a treatment. But it doesn't explain the theory that if the virus dies in warmer weather, why it has wreaked havoc in warm weather parts of the US like Florida and New Orleans. Pictured: A coronavirus patient is treated in Florida after being tested as a mobile testing site

New Orleans has also been hard hit by coronavirus as deaths in the state of Louisiana continue to rise. A White House presentation suggested warmer climates can destroy COVID-19

Doctors around America reacted with bemusement and anger.

Pulmonologist Dr Vin Gupta told NBC News: 'This notion of injecting or ingesting any type of cleansing product into the body is irresponsible and it's dangerous. It's a common method that people utilise when they want to kill themselves.'

Another pulmonologist, John Balmes from Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, told Bloomberg News: 'Inhaling chlorine bleach would be absolutely the worst thing for the lungs. The airway and the lungs are not made to be exposed to even an aerosol of disinfectant. Not even a low dilution of bleach is safe. It's a totally ridiculous concept.'

Robert Reich, a professor of public policy at University of California at Berkeley, tweeted: 'Trump's briefings are actively endangering the public's health. Boycott the propaganda. Listen to the experts. And please don't drink disinfectant.'

Yet when Philip Rucker, a reporter from the Washington Post, challenged Trump by saying, 'respectfully, sir, you're the president and people turning into the briefings, they want information and guidance and want to know what to do. They're not looking for rumour,' Trump snapped back rudely: 'Hey Phil, I'm the president and you're fake news.. I'm just here to present talent, I'm here to present ideas.'

No, you're not, Mr President.

You're there to do exactly what that reporter said.

For you to use your platform to fly absurdly delusional and dangerous medical 'cures' during this crisis is an outrageous abuse of your position.

And why the hell is Homeland Security getting involved in medical solutions the virus anyway?

As Dr Irwin Redlener, the director of the Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, told MSNBC: 'Everything that this scientist talked about from homeland security was basically incoherent, nonsensical, not really supported by evidence, and really contrary to a lot of things that we do know about some of the things he was saying. People have been getting Covid in warm climates.. UV light can be very harmful.. and the fact the president actually asked somebody about injecting disinfectants or isopropyl alcohol into the human body was kind of jaw-dropping.'

Yes, it was.

More than 891, 000 people have been infected with coronavirus in the United States as of Thursday

More than 50,000 people in the United States have died from coronavirus as of Thursday

Let's be very clear: disinfectants are extremely hazardous substances and can be poisonous if ingested.

Even external exposure to disinfectants can be very harmful to the skin and respiratory system.

We all know this because every bottle of disinfectant we ever buy carries ominous warnings about it.

Disinfectant manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser was one of many including Dettol and Lysol forced to put out a statement after Trump's comments, saying: 'We must make it clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route.)

Sadly, this is not the first President Trump has floated dangerous and unproven medical coronavirus cure theories.

Several weeks ago, he repeatedly pumped up a malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, and was joined by a number of enthusiastic conservative TV hosts and pundits.

Then he, and they, suddenly stopped.

Why?

A study of coronavirus patients in a US military veterans' hospital found MORE deaths among those treated with hydroxychloroquine than those treated without it.

So, it was doing more harm than good.

When Trump first began saying in mid-March what a good idea the drug was for coronavirus, a Phoenix man died after attempting to self-medicate from the virus by drinking chloroquine phosphate, a fish-tank cleaning additive that they wrongly thought was the hydroxychloroquine Trump had been talking about on TV.

His wife, who was left critically ill too but survived, said: 'We were scared of getting sick.'

How many Americans, also scared of getting sick now the crisis has escalated dramatically, will now be tempted to try taking bleach to combat COVID-19?

We don't know.

But what we do know is that if they do it because they heard President Trump say it was an 'interesting idea' on TV, then their deaths will be directly on him.

Think this won't happen?

Known coronavirus infections in the United States have steadily been increasing since the beginning of March

Louisiana and Florida are among the states with the highest coronavirus death rates in the country

The BBC reported today that sales of bleach have already been rocketing in the US during this pandemic because so many false conspiracy theories have erupted claiming it can help cure everything from autism to AIDS and hepatitis.

And as a direct result, calls to poison centres have also rocketed as people misuse it and ended up seriously ill from severe vomiting, diarrhoea, dehydration and acute liver failure after drinking bogus 'miracle cure' products containing bleach.

Yet despite this, President Trump thought it was a sensible move to suggest people should have bleach injected or ingested into their bodies to fight COVID-19.

Some found Trump's latest ridiculous medical theories amusing, and myriad Trump and bleach memes have gone viral on social media.

I don't find any of this funny.

In fact, I found his remarks breathtakingly stupid, reckless and dangerous.

As I said at the start of this column, the President needs to SHUT THE F*CK UP.