Republican Chris Sununu, the Governor of New Hampshire, railed against a member of his own party Thursday night, slamming Sen. Ron Johnson’s for suggesting mouthwash can kill COVID-19.
“When crazy comes knocking at the door, slam it shut,” Sununu told CNN’s Erin Burnett after she played a clip of Johnson saying Wednesday that “standard-gargle mouthwash has been proven to kill the coronavirus.”
He went on, “You can’t just tolerate it and say, ‘Oh, it’s a certain part of your population that is transmitting all this misinformation and it doesn’t matter.’ It does matter because it gets into the populous and it gives people doubt that you have to get your boosters, you have to get vaccinated.”
In the past, Johnson has promoted other unproven cures and treatments for COVID-19, including ivermectin. The local news in his state, Wisconsin, reported in September that he doubled down on those promotions after facing criticism.
A dentist-resource site operated by Listerine, a popular mouthwash, makes clear, “As a global leader in oral care, we have reviewed recent literature, as well as registered clinical trials regarding mouthwash and COVID-19. As more external study results are proposed and published, we are also working with trusted partners to explore the efficacy of LISTERINE® mouthwashes inactivating the COVID-19 virus. Current available data is insufficient to support a conclusion that the use of LISTERINE® mouthwash is helpful in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.”
In bold, it reiterates, “LISTERINE® Antiseptic is not intended to prevent or treat COVID-19 and should be used only as directed on the product label.”