Trump, for his part, has called shaking hands a “barbaric” practice, fearing the flu and “all sorts of things.”At his first press conference since the election, President-elect Donald Trump batted off allegations that Russia gathered potentially compromising information on him. "I'm also very much of a germaphobe," Trump said. (Video: The Washington Post / Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)Accusations of barbarism aside, it is true that handshakes spread bacteria. Or refuse to shake hands altogether.”Neurologist William A. Hammond first described what he called mysophobia on April 7, 1879. “I’d kiss babies, well, kissing babies isn’t so bad,” Trump told Dateline NBC reporter Stone Phillips in 1999 about a then-hypothetical presidential run.

Source: Washington Post January 12, 2017 11:34 UTC