As Twitchy told you, CNN has aired audio of Donald Trump telling Bob Woodward that he intentionally played down the threat posed by COVID19 in order to avoid causing a panic.
Unsurprisingly, the media are having a field day with it. And why shouldn’t they? After all, it’s not the best look for Trump.
Yeah, that's not good. https://t.co/JAkCTjIPUT
— I did not and will not vote for him. Calm down. (@jtLOL) September 9, 2020
It’s not ideal, no.
In new tapes, President Trump admits to Bob Woodward he concealed critical details he knew about the coronavirus. "I wanted to always play it down." https://t.co/0gAGB04AoC pic.twitter.com/5LX8prBFNJ
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) September 9, 2020
Bob Woodward book 'Rage:' Trump admits to concealing true threat of coronavirus – CNNPolitics https://t.co/4Rqxm8ZPTm
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) September 9, 2020
"This is deadly stuff," Trump told Woodward of coronavirus on February 7. Weeks later, on March 19, he said, "I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic."https://t.co/UUWnlBqP0o
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) September 9, 2020
Breaking: In recorded interview for Bob Woodward book, Trump said he knew coronavirus was "deadly" even as he publicly played down threat https://t.co/LvP9BERURZ
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 9, 2020
What the President Knew and When He Knew It.
Not good news for Trump. https://t.co/ZDrdr2ikDA— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) September 9, 2020
Recommended
Trump tells Woodward he played down the threat of the coronavirus.
"I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down because I don't want to create a panic."He also tells Woodward that "plenty of young people" are vulnerable — different from his public message pic.twitter.com/fJZUZtJTIv
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) September 9, 2020
It’s not the best look for Woodward, of course:
bob woodward had the president on tape in **MARCH** saying COVID-19 was worse than the admin or health officials were letting on?
and, uh, we’re just now hearing about the tapes because woodward has a new book to sell? https://t.co/7zfD2H4qyy
— tsar becket adams (@BecketAdams) September 9, 2020
And THIS.
If this is true…Woodward let people die for book profits…right?https://t.co/ZFc2XhW40j
— Pradheep J. Shanker (@Neoavatara) September 9, 2020
But let’s focus on the act of intentionally downplaying the threat posed by a potentially fatal virus. Who would do something like that? What kind of monster does one have to be to willfully mislead the public on COVID19?
Oh:
They’re rewriting history… pic.twitter.com/1oQPEL9MFv
— Kynan brown (@KynanB33) April 19, 2020
That was back in the spring. We’d all spent a couple of months being told by our Guardians of Truth that COVID19 was no big deal.
And now those Guardians of Truth are counting on the rest of us to forget that.
Yes, downplaying the virus was bad, wasn't it? https://t.co/4qLBHsuapl
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) September 9, 2020
I do remember the media downplaying COVID until schools closed. https://t.co/EKvQJl6XIc
— kaitlin (@thefactualprep) September 9, 2020
This “people should have been told” nonsense pretends that CNN wasn’t running a chyron at the exact same time trying to instill the exact fear that they’re now blaming trump for not saying.
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) September 9, 2020
Today, they’re going after Donald Trump for doing exactly what they — and plenty of Democratic politicians — did.
Stop wearing face masks. #coronavirus
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) March 4, 2020
.@AOC: "People are literally not patroning Chinese restaurants, they're not patroning Asian restaurants because of just straight up racism around the Coronavirus." pic.twitter.com/2tTabQCIdW
— Eddie Zipperer (@EddieZipperer) March 11, 2020
.@BilldeBlasio on coronavirus:
FEB. 14: "This should not stop you…from going to Chinatown & going out to eat"
MARCH 13: "We want people still to go on about their lives."
TODAY: Asked if he was partly to blame: "None of us have time to look backwards."pic.twitter.com/5H68wNLwc1
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) March 29, 2020
They listened to the experts pic.twitter.com/K5VhKMlSut
— Rona Ron (@RonaRon17) September 9, 2020
The media will totally ignore every example of Democrats downplaying the virus. https://t.co/QVdOiAm6hn pic.twitter.com/YhSGUkkKea
— Doug Powers (@ThePowersThatBe) September 9, 2020
No doubt.
They hate nothing worse than being held accountable.
— 6a206f (@hgprjmet) September 9, 2020
Their selective outrage is noted. But not respected.
Betcha @PressSec has this collage displayed on two big screens during a press conference in the very near future, along with video clips of Biden, Pelosi, Cuomo, DeBlasio.
— Mitesh Raval (@RavalMitesh) September 9, 2020
We’re not pointing this out to excuse Donald Trump’s actions. But if he shouldn’t get away with deceiving the public, neither should our media.
Editor’s note: This post has been updated with additional tweets.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member