Bob Woodward—who gained notoriety after investigating Richard Nixon’s involvement
in the Watergate scandal—has recently released recordings he took while interviewing
President Donald Trump. Woodward was working on a new book about Trump, when COVID
cases began appearing in the United States in February. Amongst several other current events,
the tapes display that President Trump was aware of the dire health consequences resulting
from contraction of the COVID virus, despite publicly downplaying the threat.
On February 7 th , in the recording that has garnered the most attention, Mr. Trump said,
“It goes through air, Bob,” expressing concern over the highly infectious nature of the virus.
“It’s also more deadly than your, you know, even your strenuous flu. This is deadly stuff.”
Despite Mr. Trumps private concerns, he told the public a very different story. “It’s a
little like the regular flu that we have flu shots for,” the President said weeks later on February
26 th . “And we’ll essentially have a flu shot for this in a fairly quick manner.”
The contradictions in the statements—concerning a disease that has killed over 200,000
Americans—has caused widespread outrage, in part because it appears that Mr. Trump
knowingly misled the American public.
On March 19 th —after Mr. Woodward asked him why he downplayed the virus—Mr.
Trump said the following: “I wanted to always play it down, I still like playing it down… because
I don’t want to create a panic.”
Many have speculated he did this for political purposes, suggesting he was unwilling to
face the political backlash, in an election year, that completely shutting down the economy may
have entailed.
Others have wondered why Mr. Trump would agree to talk with Mr. Woodward, risking
potential exposure to a reporter who has investigated (and been critical of) several presidents
since his rise to fame after Watergate. According to Woodward, the President reached out and
expressed that he was disappointed after not getting his say in during the influential reporter’s
last book, “Fear: Trump in the White House”
“He kept telling me, in the interviews for this book, that he made a mistake not talking
to me,” Woodward told 60 Minutes: “He had things he wanted to say. I think he decided he was
going to let me inside.”
At St. Lawrence, condemnation of the President has been swift. Olivia Earwhich, class of
22’, said that, “the constant downplaying of COVID has real consequences and if he doesn’t
actively take it seriously more people are going to die.”
Henry Peidra, class of 23’, said, “the fact that he didn’t want people to panic is ridiculous
considering what we know about the consequences of the virus.”
In his latest book, “Rage,” Woodward ends with an unexpected editorial conclusion. “I
say that the president is the wrong man for the job,” adding that, “it’s a conclusion based on
evidence, overwhelming evidence, that he could not rise to the occasion with the virus and tell
the truth.