Trump Woodward Tapes

Trump Woodward Tapes Tell the Tale

 

Donald Trump’s hubris and arrogance is, once again, on full display as he tries in vain to avoid the fallout from the release of the tapes of his 18 interviews with journalist Bob Woodward. Woodward gained fame with his reporting about the Watergate burglary by people linked directly to then president Richard Nixon. Woodward’s reporting led directly to Nixon’s resignation.

 

For some strange reason, given Woodward’s history and credibility, Trump agreed to recorded interviews with the journalist back in March just as the coronavirus pandemic was exploding across America. In those recorded interviews, Trump clearly states that he knew then how deadly the virus was and that it was easily transmitted through the air. He further told Woodward that he was downplaying the threat posed by the virus so as not to create a panic.

 

At the same time and for some time after, Trump was consistently telling the American people that the virus was no more serious than the common seasonal flu and that it would soon vanish. He continued to downplay the threat even as the infection rates and number of death continued to climb nationwide.

 

When confronted with the tapes, he admitted knowing how deadly the virus is and maintained his claim that he did not want to create a panic. 

 

This is not a question of whether you should believe Woodward’s claims or not. You just have to listen to the tapes and compare them to Trump’s many televised briefings and statements at his mask free and not socially distanced political rallies.

 

Trump’s misleading claims about the virus in the late Spring were coupled with his administration’s lack of significant action to reduce the spread of the virus by promoting masks and social distancing or to invoke the defense production act to produce much needed personal protection equipment and ventilators for first responders and hospital workers. He continued to reject proposals to shut down parts of the economy to reduce large gatherings, instead holding large gatherings of his own.

 

We now approach 200,000 American dead from this killer virus. Most credible scientists in the area of infection control believe that Trump’s lack of action and misleading claims have cost many more deaths than were necessary. 

 

Trump’s lack of credibility and the pressure of the upcoming election make it all but impossible to believe his current claims that a safe and effective vaccine for the virus will be widely available before election day. His own expert scientist and Director of the Centers for Disease Control is only willing to say that the earliest a safe and effective vaccine might be widely available is by the Spring, 2021. Trump further strains credibility when he claims the scientist was mistaken or misinformed. 

 

The recent statements by Trump’s handpicked CDC spokesperson, about the agency’s anti-Trump bias and misinformation, followed by his recent leave of absence casts further suspicion on Trump’s assertions. The discredited spokesperson’s job was to bring CDC statements more in line with Trump’s pronouncements and he failed to accomplish that or even come close. 

 

All of this is convincing proof that Trump and his enablers reject science and those who have studied and worked on these problems all of their working lives in favor of a political agenda aimed at securing reelection in November. This anti-science agenda and the propaganda that followed led America’s premier scientific publication, Scientific American, to endorse Joe Biden in the upcoming election. Scientific American has never endorsed a presidential candidate before in its 175-year history. 

 

Trump has continued to claim that the economy must be protected by keeping it open and running. The economy will not return to any degree of normalcy unless and until the virus is brought under control with a safe and effective vaccine. It is somewhat reassuring that the pharmaceutical companies tasked with developing, testing and manufacturing the vaccine have all signed a pledge not to bow to political pressure for a quick fix or early release. They all agreed not to release a product that is not proven to be safe and effective. 

 

Notwithstanding the overwhelming scientific evidence on the need for masks and social distancing to reduce the spread, Trump’s Attorney General is now suggesting that masks requirements are a major civil rights violation. Trump now suggests that forced quarantine restrictions are akin to slavery. Trump’s comment at the recent ABC television Q and A with undecided Pennsylvania voters that the virus will be defeated by “herd mentality” shows his ignorance of the science.

 

Americans deserve a President who levels with them about what is happening, one who tells the truth and accepts responsibility for his actions. Donald Trump is not up to the task.