'Inject a little bleach': Biden roasts Trump's COVID cure at election fundraiser

US President Joe Biden, at a fundraising event near San Francisco for his re-election campaign, on Friday (May 10) joked that he wished his rival former president Donald Trump had injected himself with a little bleach.

He said this while bringing up one of Trump's most controversial suggestions from the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

Bleach wars: He said, (s)he said

Biden humorously wished that his Republican rival Trump had taken his own advice about injecting bleach as a potential treatment for the virus.

During the gathering, Biden highlighted the outbreak that marked Trump's tenure, reminding his audience of the recommendation Trump infamously made during a press briefing in 2020.

"Remember him saying the best thing to do is just inject a little bleach in your arm? That’s what he said. And he meant it. I wish he had done a little bit himself," quipped the Democrat.

During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020,Trump had proposed that an "injection inside" directly into the human body of disinfectants, such as bleach or isopropyl alcohol, might combat the virus. The comment had quite predictably sparked widespread disbelief and concern at the time.

The current president also poked fun at what he described as Trump's "love letters" exchanged with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Trump, during his presidency, had famously engaged in diplomacy with Kim. The duo had engaged in a number of high-profile meetings, exchanged personal letters, copies of which Trump reportedly kept in a loose-leaf binder in the Oval Office.

However, in his jest, Biden made a gaffe, accidentally referring to Kim as the president of South Korea.

Biden's mocking digs at Trump's past comments aren't new. Previously, on April 24 in Washington, Biden joked that Trump had indeed followed through with the bleach injection and "it all went to his hair."

Trump too rarely leaves a chance to slam his democrat rival. Recently, blasting Biden during a speech in Freeland(Michigan), Trump, as per AFP, had said: "Every single thing he touches turns to s**t."

(With inputs from agencies)