Donald Trump’s Bob Woodward “Downplaying Coronavirus” Controversy

Submission 11,265

Part of a series on COVID-19 Pandemic. [View Related Entries]

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Overview

Donald Trump’s Bob Woodward “Downplaying Coronavirus” Controversy refers to comments made by President Trump in February 2020 acknowledging the severity of the coronavirus. After Woodward released the interview in September 2020, many accused Trump of purposely misleading the public. Following the circulation of the interview, Trump responded to a reporter asking if he misled the public about the dangers of the virus in order to "reduce panic," to which he replied, "perhaps that's so."

Background

On February 7th, 2020, journalist Bob Woodward interviewed President Trump about the coronavirus.^[1]^[2] During the interview, Trump said:

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 flu. This is deadly stuff.

In a March 19th interview, Trump told Woodward that he “always wanted to play it down.”

Woodward released the audio on September 9th. He conducted the interviews for his book Rage.

Developments

Online Reaction

The audio of the interview quickly spread online as people debated the ethics of both Trump's comments and Woodward's withholding of them. The news inspired several threads on the /r/politics^[10]^[11]^[12] that received more than 20,000 points in less than 24 hours.

Criticism of Trump

Critics of Donald Trump used Trump's statements to express their concern over his presidency. For example, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tweeted, ^[3] "Trump knew how deadly the virus was. He deliberately lied to the American people about it. Nearly 200,000 people, their families, and our entire country are paying the price." The tweet received more than 37,000 likes and 11,000 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, left).

Direct of Rapid Response Andrew Bates shared a March 19th tweet by Joe Biden acknowledging the virus. Bates wrote,^[4] "On March 19 – the exact same day that Trump admitted to Bob Woodward, 'I wanted to always play it down' – Joe Biden warned that Trump was downplaying COVID-19 and that it made him 'unfit to lead us through this crisis.'" The tweet received more than 9,500 likes and 4,200 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, center).

Former CIA director John Brennan tweeted,^[5] "In his comments to Bob Woodward, Donald Trump reveals what an absolute abomination he is. If he had a conscience or a soul, he would resign. Tragically for us, he has neither." The tweet received more than 41,000 likes, 12,000 retweets and 7,200 likes in less than 24 hours (shown below, right).

Actor Jim Carrey edited the audio to a painting of Trump in a hospital bed. He wrote, "191,000 deaths – conservatively. Neutered CDC now suppressing numbers for Trump. Woodward recording proves he knew it was deadly back in February!" The tweet received more than 543,000 views, 27,000 likes and 6,600 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below).

Criticism of Woodward

Some criticized Woodward for withholding the information from the public for eight months. Chicago Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa tweeted,^[6] "We should be upset that Bob Woodward withheld critical information to sell his book. And we should oppose the economic system that taught Woodward to put profit over people" (shown below, left).

Actor Treat Williams tweeted,^[7] "So if Bob Woodward had this information directly from the president. When Trump lied to the country and the deaths piled up, why did Woodward not come forward with it?" The tweet received more than 18,000 likes and 2,900 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, center).

Twitter user @attackerman tweeted^[8] two panels from the comic book Watchmen in which the characters debate blame due to inaction. The tweet received more than 1,500 likes and 300 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below, right).

Trump's Response

On September 10th, President Trump tweeted,^[9] "Bob Woodward had my quotes for many months. If he thought they were so bad or dangerous, why didn’t he immediately report them in an effort to save lives? Didn’t he have an obligation to do so? No, because he knew they were good and proper answers. Calm, no panic!" The tweet received more than 74,000 likes and 23,000 retweets in less than 24 hours (shown below).