Did The Onion Predict Trump’s Suggestion About Disinfectants to Treat Coronavirus?

Satire site’s March 25 spoof depicted Wyoming man buying cleaning products “in case Trump announces it’s coronavirus cure”

Donald Trump coronavirus press briefing
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A March 25 piece from satire site the Onion was almost a full month ahead of Friday’s news cycle: “Man Just Buying One Of Every Cleaning Product In Case Trump Announces It’s Coronavirus Cure.”

One man in the replies to a weeks-old tweet of the article said, “Getting really sick of the prophetic sh-t.” Was it prophetic? Check out what the piece says and see for yourself.

The article told the story of a fictitious Wisconsin man who spends over $2,000 on various cleaning products.

“Throwing bottles of bleach, ammonia, and Drano into a cart at his local grocery store, area man Troy Mitchell was reportedly stocking up on one of every cleaning product he could find Wednesday in case President Donald Trump announces it is a coronavirus cure,” it says.

The “area man” explains in the piece how he’s prepared for Trump to announce that any of the cleaners could be the one that cures the coronavirus and he’s prepared to squirt them up his nostrils at the president’s direction.

“At press time, neighbors confirmed Mitchell had been found unresponsive on the floor of his bathroom with several empty aerosol cans of Rust-Oleum wax-and-tar-removing solvent by his head,” it concludes.

Thursday night, — in real life, not the world of the Onion — the president suggested ingesting disinfectant might be a possible coronavirus cure.  White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany blamed the media Friday for the negative attention President Trump’s comments about injecting disinfectant has received.

“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 in a statement. “Leave it to the media to irresponsibly take President Trump out of context and run with negative headlines.”

At least the Onion, publishing its satire on the matter four weeks before it even happened, can’t be accused of taking Trump “out of context.”

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