Four years ago this week, President Donald J. Trump suggested that Americans might want to inject disinfectant into their bodies to treat the coronavirus.
The Biden campaign is intent on making sure nobody forgets it.
On Air Force One, on social media and from the presidential lectern, President Biden has homed in on the infamous moment — one that crystallized the chaos of the Trump presidency — as he trolls his political opponent.
“Remember when he was trying to deal with Covid, he said just inject a little bleach in your veins?” Mr. Biden said on Wednesday after picking up the endorsement of North America’s Building Trades Unions. “He missed it. It all went to his hair.”
Just a day before, Mr. Biden shared a video of Mr. Trump’s suggestion to inject disinfectant on X, the platform formally known as Twitter.
“Don’t inject bleach,” Mr. Biden said. “And don’t vote for the guy who told you to inject bleach.”
Early in Mr. Biden’s presidency, he seldom mentioned Mr. Trump by name publicly as he sought to return the country to normalcy. That appeared to be wishful thinking. As the 2024 campaign heats up, Mr. Biden is taking on his predecessor more forcefully — and personally.
In the early days of the pandemic, Mr. Trump said during a White House briefing that an “injection inside” the human body with a disinfectant like bleach or isopropyl alcohol could help combat the virus.
“And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute,” Mr. Trump said.
“One minute,” he said. “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.”
The comments caused an immediate uproar. Callers flooded health hotlines with questions about Mr. Trump’s remarks. Some states had to immediately urge people not to consume laundry detergent capsules or disinfectant.
The makers of Clorox and Lysol pleaded with Americans not to inject or ingest their products. Now, the Biden campaign is intent on pleading with the American people to not vote for the man who suggested doing so.
