Shedding light on the issue

The readers of the Ocala Gazette expect accurate and unbiased news. Deputy Editor Bill Thompson reported on page 12 of the Sept. 4-Sept. 10 issue, “In the relatively early days of the COVID-19 outbreak, President Trump once drew jeers and eye rolls when he suggested that the virus could be treated with ultraviolet light.” This is false.

Here is the quote that drew jeers and eye rolls: “I said, supposing you brought the [ultraviolet] light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way.”

Mr. Thompson’s article reminded us of the risk of exposing the human body to UV, so he must acknowledge that Trump’s quote is dangerous. The jeers and eye rolls occurred in people who visualized the mental image of inserting a UV light into one of the body’s orifices. I was one of those who also wondered how a president could be so clueless to suggest such a thing.

Please do not permit the adoration of Trump to interfere with the usual good journalism of the Ocala Gazette.

Daniel Lack, Ocala