From Reuters:
“Trump said he knew virus was
deadly but still played down crisis: Woodward book”
U.S. President Donald Trump
acknowledged to a journalist early in the coronavirus pandemic that he played
down the danger of the health crisis despite having evidence to the contrary,
according to a new book. “I wanted to always play it down,” Trump told author
Bob Woodward on March 19, days after he declared a national emergency. “I still
like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.” CNN on Wednesday
broadcast interviews Woodward did with Trump for his new book “Rage.” The book,
to go on sale next Tuesday, just weeks before the Nov. 3 presidential election,
comes amid criticism of Trump’s efforts to battle COVID-19. The Republican
president, assailed by his Democratic rival Joe Biden over the slow U.S. government
response to the coronavirus, played down the crisis for months as it took hold
and spread across the country. In the March 19 conversation, Trump told
Woodward that some “startling facts” had emerged showing the extent of those at
risk: “It’s not just old, older. Young people too, plenty of young people.”
Trump on Wednesday defended his
handling of the virus, which has killed more than 190,000 people in the United
States. “The fact is I’m a cheerleader for this country. I love our country and
I don’t want people to be frightened,” Trump said at the White House. “We’ve
done well from any standard.” According to the interviews, CNN and The
Washington Post reported, Trump knew the virus was dangerous in early February.
“It goes through the air,” Trump said in a recording of a Feb. 7 interview with
Woodward. “That’s always tougher than the touch. You don’t have to touch
things. Right? But the air, you just breathe the air and that’s how it’s
passed. “And so that’s a very tricky one. That’s a very delicate one. It’s also
more deadly than even your strenuous flus.” A week after that interview, Trump
said at a White House briefing that the number of U.S. coronavirus cases
“within a couple days is going to be down close to zero.” Woodward in an
interview with the Associated Press defended himself from online critics who
questioned why he kept Trump’s comments to himself for months as a pandemic
raged. “He tells me this, and I’m thinking, ‘Wow, that’s interesting, but is it
true?’ Trump says things that don’t check out, right?” the news agency quoted
Woodward as saying in a phone interview. Some fellow Republicans defended
Trump’s coronavirus response on Wednesday.
“His actions of shutting the economy down were the right actions,”
Senator Lindsey Graham said. “And I think the tone during that time sort of
spoke for itself.” Woodward conducted 18 interviews with Trump for the book.
Other revelations include Trump’s disparaging remarks about U.S. military
leaders. He drew criticism this week following reports that he had denigrated
fallen military personnel and veterans. In Woodward’s book, an aide to former
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis heard Trump say in a meeting, “my fucking generals
are a bunch of pussies” because they cared more about alliances than trade
deals. Mattis asked the aide to document the comment in an email, the
Washington Post reported. Regarding the Black Lives Matter movement, Woodward
asked Trump his views on the concept of white privilege and whether he felt
isolated by that privilege from the plight of Black Americans. “No. You really
drank the Kool-Aid, didn’t you? Just listen to you,” Trump replied, according
to media reports on the book. “Wow. No, I don’t feel that at all.”
^ We all knew Trump was crazy and
that he did little to nothing for months to prevent Covid-19 from entering the
US and then from spreading across the country, but this beats everything. Trump
knowingly and willingly lied to Americans about how deadly and dangerous
Covid-19 is for months. He put politics over the health and the lives of
Americans. To me that is beyond disgusting. The nearly 190,000 Americans who
have died from Covid-19 is on his hands. His inactions, his lies and his
political moves to prevent the truth about Covid-19 have soiled his Presidency
forever. No matter what he did in the past or what he does in the future
history and America will only remember him as the President who sacrificed hundreds
of thousands of American citizens for no good reason then to play to his ego. Anyone
who still supports him after this is just as guilty for all the Covid-19 dead
Americans as he is. I didn’t vote for him in 2016 (I didn’t vote for Hilary
either – because I couldn’t find the lesser of two evils) and I will not vote
for him in 2020 (I also will not vote for Biden – again because I can’t find
the lesser of two evils.) I voted for a Third Party Candidate in 2016 and will
do the same in 2020 – and having majored in Politics in College I understand
what that means in our Two-Party Political System, but I just can’t in good
conscience vote for either Trump or Biden – although I will also say that I
honestly hope and pray that Trump does not get re-elected. ^
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.