Trump Explains Why He Downplayed Covid-19 to Woodward: 'There Was No Lie'

Try as he might to change the subject, US President Donald Trump can't escape the coronavirus.

In newly released interviews from journalist Bob Woodward's forthcoming book "Rage," Trump privately acknowledged the severity of the pandemic even as he played it down in public.

Excerpts of the book were published Wednesday by The Washington Post and CNN, which also aired audio of some of the interviews.

Woodward, who is most famously known for helping break open the Watergate scandal during the Nixon administration, has chronicled the happening of most American presidents since then.

Two years ago Woodward released a different book, "Fear", that depicted a chaotic White House environment under the Trump administration.

After its release the president complained that he was not actively involved in the book and agreed to at least nine private interviews with Woodward which were used for his latest novel "Rage."

"This is a case where Trump himself wanted to shape the narrative, and while the book isn't out yet at least, the early headlines aren't very kind to him," said Jonathan Lemire, a White House reporter for the Associated Press.

Lemire added that other former presidents, like George W. Bush and Barak Obama, who agreed to have Woodward write a book about their administrations were also displeased with the final products.

"But this is different," Lemire said. "Trump himself is far more conscious or frankly, obsessed with the media coverage he receives than any of his predecessors. We see that every day on Twitter. He often delves into media critique."

In taped conversations released along with the excerpts, Trump insisted he didn't want to create "panic." But his comments also raised fresh questions about how he has managed the defining crisis of his presidency, one that has killed about 190,000 Americans so far, with no end in sight.

Trump's team would much rather center the November vote around the economy, cracking down on protests spawned by racial injustice, and the president's promise that he could appoint more conservative justices to the Supreme Court.

"They're comfortable fighting on anything else except for the pandemic because public opinion polls show the Americans don't think the president has done a very good job," Lemire said. "And by his comments, his own words, these are not anonymous sources. These are not administration officials on background. His own words caught on tape are again highlighting the pandemic, put it at the national... center of the national discourse, and raising all sorts of further concerns about how, frankly, he has handled the largest health crisis this nation has faced in a century."

After details of the book were released, Democrats have condemned Trump's actions of downplaying the coronavirus early on, with the Governor of Michigan Gretchen Whitmer calling the president "the biggest threat to the American people."

And now, Trump's own words are redirecting attention to his handling of the pandemic when he can least afford it — less than two months before Election Day.

"Because this... revelation is about COVID-19, it is possible this will be damaging to him. This will hurt his electoral challenge... chances. It certainly can't help," Lemire said. "But it remains to be seen whether or not this is a mortal blow to his reelection bid or whether we're simply talking about something else in 72 hours."

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