On Saturday, President Donald Trump suggested intravenous drug users begin sanitizing and sharing needles to cut down on costs and conserve the limited supply for medical professionals. During his recent White House briefing, Trump remarked, “I have to tell you, just throwing away needles… makes no sense. Heroin addicts are constantly sharing needles. They do it all the time. No problems. None. And here we are, just throwing away more money. Sad.”

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many medical supplies are becoming increasingly difficult to procure. Naturally, the spike in demand from the public has caused problems in the supply chain.

Suggesting that drug addicts instead clean and reuse their needles, the President said: “We have very good liquids for doing this, sanitizing the needles. The best. And that’s something they’re starting to do more and more. They’re sanitizing stuff.”

sharing needles

In response, the US Food and Drug Administration put out a press release noting that “discarded needles should never be shared or reused.” The Centers for Disease Control immediately responded with a statement urging intravenous drug users to avoid sharing needles with each other, as “standard guidelines and common sense dictate that sanitized needles are not safe to reuse.”

During the briefing, renowned immunologist Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, cautioned drug users and suggested they consult the CDC’s standard guidelines for health and safety. “Please, for the love of God, don’t listen to this man. He’s fucking lost it!”

In response, President Trump claimed the USDA, NIAID, and CDC were fake news, disbanded the organizations, and had Dr. Fauci sent to Guantanamo Bay.