A new Bob Woodward book has exposed a plethora of COVID-19 lies, racism, and complete ineptitude from Donald Trump.
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The news just keeps going from bad to worse for Donald Trump. First, an article from The Atlantic revealed damning remarks Trump made against the US military. Now, the book “Rage” from noted Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward has exposed outright lies Trump told regarding the coronavirus, his thoughts on racism/social injustice, and more.
Not only did the Woodward book reveal Trump knew as early as February that COVID-19 was airborne, deadly, and potentially life-threatening to both the young and the old, but Woodward himself released actual recordings of Trump admitting he was downplaying the threat of the virus and purposely misleading the American public.
“You just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed,” Trump told Woodward during a February 7th recorded telephone call — more than a month before the virus forced the country to completely shut down from coast to coast. “And so that’s a very tricky one. That’s a very delicate one. It’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flus.”
“This is deadly stuff,” he added for emphasis.
Regrettably, this was during a time when Trump was attempting to convince the American people that COVID-19 was “a hoax,” that it was no worse than the flu, and that it would one day magically “disappear.”
On Wednesday, CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta announced a study from Columbia University which concluded that if Donald Trump had acted only 1 week earlier by shutting down the nation and implementing social distancing, 30,000 lives could have been saved. Additionally, had Trump acted 2 weeks earlier, 84% of deaths could have been prevented and 82% of cases could have been avoided.
During a March 19th telephone recording, Trump admitted to Woodward that he deliberately attempted to minimize the danger.
“I wanted to always play it down,” Trump said. “I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.”
According to the Woodward book: “National security adviser Robert C. O’Brien warned Donald Trump that ‘This will be the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency.’ However, “Trump never did seem willing to fully mobilize the federal government and continually seemed to push problems off on the states. There was no real management theory of the case or how to organize a massive enterprise to deal with one of the most complex emergencies the United States had ever faced.”
During another recorded conversation from June 19th (which was about a week after Trump teargassed peaceful protesters to stage a photo-op outside The White House), Woodward asked Trump his opinions regarding White privilege, noting they were both White men of the same generation who had privileged upbringings. Woodward suggested that they each had a responsibility to better “understand the anger and pain” felt by Black Americans.
“No,” Trump replied mockingly. “You really drank the Kool-Aid, didn’t you? Just listen to you. Wow. No, I don’t feel that at all.”
Then, in another conversation not long after, Trump told Woodward: “I’ve done a tremendous amount for the Black community. And, honestly, I’m not feeling any love.”
On Wednesday after excerpts of the Woodward book were made public, The White House went into panic mode and scrambled to find a way to diminish the political fallout. However, they quickly realized it was impossible to lie their way out of the shame, particularly since there was no way to deny audio proof of Trump’s own recorded words.
Still, Donald Trump gave it his best shot, with a weak attempt at an explanation during a hastily-arranged Wednesday press conference:
“The fact is I’m a cheerleader for this country. I love our country. And I don’t want people to be frightened, I don’t want to create panic, as you say, and certainly, I’m not going to drive this country or the world into a frenzy. We want to show confidence, we want to show strength, we want to show strength as a nation, and that’s what I’ve done. And we’ve done very well.”
Yes, Donald Trump said he thought it was OK to lie and allow (then) tens of thousands of Americans to die just to prevent “panic” and to appear as head cheerleader for America. However, his words were meaningless, particularly since he’s currently attempting to instill racist panic and division into the minds of suburban voters just to get re-elected.
Donald Trump also turned the wearing of masks into a political issue, despite knowing back in February that the coronavirus is an airborne disease. He’s also still making masks an issue, telling a reporter during a Tuesday press conference to remove his mask.
At a campaign event in Warren, Michigan, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden lit into Trump for his words in the Woodward book.
“He knew how deadly it was. He knew and purposely played it down,” Biden said. “Worse, he lied.”
“It was a life-and-death betrayal of the American people,” Biden added. “It’s beyond despicable. It’s a dereliction of duty, a disgrace.”
Could the Bob Woodward book be the straw that broke the camel’s back and the end of the road for Teflon Donald Trump?
Could the Bob Woodward book be the straw that broke the camel’s back and the end of the road for Teflon Donald Trump? […] – DJ
For the majority of Trump voters? No.
In fact, I liken this to Trump’s claim that he could “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters.” For Trump voters it’s about white tribalism and preserving white dominance/power in America by any means necessary. To them, nothing else matters.