In a series of interviews with well-known journalist Bob Woodward, conducted between Dec. 2019 to July 2020, Donald Trump admitted to downplaying the threat of COVID-19.

“I wanted to always play it down,” Trump said in a March 19 interview. “I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.”

In addition to outrage over the newly-released audio, many have also criticized Woodward for not releasing the tapes sooner, arguing that they could have saved lives.

Woodward has defended himself by saying he was unable to verify the information from Trump until May and that he waited to publish the interviews as a complete picture so that they would have a greater impact.

Trump Admits to Downplaying Virus in Audio Tapes

Newly-released audio between President Donald Trump and veteran reporter Bob Woodward has become a major flashpoint over the last 24 hours, particularly because that audio showcases Trump admitting to publicly downplaying the threat of COVID-19.

“To be honest with you, I wanted to always play it down,” Trump said in a recorded interview from March 19. “I still like playing it down because I don’t want to create a panic.”

Woodward conducted that interview and 17 others between Dec. 5, 2019, and July 21, 2020, as part of research for his new book Rage, set to release on Sept. 15. The audio of those interviews was made public Wednesday after several major media outlets obtained copies of the book.

While Trump and Woodward also discussed subjects like the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as Trump’s relationships with Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin, the most damning material made public thus far has related to Trump’s comments surrounding the pandemic.

“It’s also more deadly than your — you know, even your strenuous flus,” Trump said to Woodward on Feb. 7. “You know, people don’t realize, we lose 25,000, 30,000 people a year here. Who would ever think that, right?”

“This is more deadly,” he added. “This is five percent versus one percent and less than one percent. You know? So, this is deadly stuff.”

Despite those then-private (but still on-the-record) comments to Woodward, in late February, Trump was still comparing COVID-19 to the seasonal flu.

“People die from the flu, and this is very unusual,” Trump said at a press conference. “And it is a little bit different, but in some ways, it’s easier, and in some ways, it’s a little bit tougher. But we have it so well under control.”

“I mean, view this the same as the flu. When somebody sneezes, I mean, I’d try and bail out as much as possible.

“It’s a little like the regular flu that we have flu shots for,” Trump also said.

In the March 19 interview, Trump also notes:“Now, it’s turning out it’s not just old people, Bob,” Trump said. “Just today and yesterday, some startling facts came out. It’s not just older [people]. Young people too, plenty of young people.”

In an April interview, Trump told Woodward that the virus was “so easily transmissible, you wouldn’t even believe it.”

Those comments also come despite the fact that Trump repeatedly and publicly assured Ameircans that the virus would soon go away.

“It’s going to go away, hopefully at the end of the month,” Trump said on March 31, “and if not, it hopefully will be soon after that.”

Reaction to Woodward Audio

The reaction to the audio has been strong, both from those criticizing the president and those defending him.

“Donald Trump knew,” Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden said. “He lied to us for months. And while a deadly disease ripped through our nation, he failed to do his job — on purpose. It was a life or death betrayal of the American people.”

Donald Trump knew.



He lied to us for months.



And while a deadly disease ripped through our nation, he failed to do his job — on purpose.



It was a life or death betrayal of the American people. https://t.co/WDmVUvmmJk — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 9, 2020

“…this is not just dereliction of duty by @POTUS,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Ca.) said. “Trump repeatedly lied to the American people and that resulted in preventable deaths. This is reckless homicide.”

Having read more of the excerpts in the Woodward book where @realDonaldTrump is on tape, I’ve concluded this is not just dereliction of duty by @POTUS. Trump repeatedly lied to the American people and that resulted in preventable deaths.



This is reckless homicide.#TrumpKnew https://t.co/c7SziWD3CK — Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) September 9, 2020

“Mass preventable death,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hi.) echoed.

Mass preventable death. — Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) September 9, 2020

Many conservative and Republican figures, however, largely defended Trump, though some, such as Ben Shapiro, did offer a partial rebuke of Trump’s language.

“I am still waiting to hear what Democrats say they would have done differently on covid other than not say such dumb things (which is a thing, but not the main thing in fighting covid, as it turns out),” the commentator said.

I am still waiting to hear what Democrats say they would have done differently on covid other than not say such dumb things (which is a thing, but not the main thing in fighting covid, as it turns out). — Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 9, 2020

On Fox News Wednesday night, Sean Hannity went even further by asserting that Trump had not lied to the American people.

“Let’s make one thing perfectly clear: President Trump has never misled or distorted the truth about this deadly truth. No, he acted faster than anyone else,” Hannity said.

In a similar statement, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Wednesday as the news broke, “The president never downplayed the virus.” Still, Trump’s own answer from the March 19 interview directly contradicts this.

Reporter: How can the president take no responsibility for the nearly 200k deaths when he downplayed the virus?⁰



McEnany: ‘The president never downplayed the virus.’



⁰Trump in March to Bob Woodward: ‘I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down.’ pic.twitter.com/MIwr0ZgLLi — NowThis (@nowthisnews) September 10, 2020

Why Didn’t Woodward Release the Audio Sooner?

The outrage surrounding Trump wasn’t the only major reaction from Wednesday. Many people also wondered why it took so long for Woodward to release the interviews.

Hey, maybe this isn’t something Woodward should have just sat on for 7 months so he could sell some books? pic.twitter.com/A4IfAWCap8 — Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) September 9, 2020

As the day went on, frustration directed at Woodward continued to mount, with many claiming that this information could have saved lives if it had came out earlier.

Even Thursday morning, Trump asked, “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!”

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! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 10, 2020

In an interview with The Washington Post, Woodward explained his decision, telling the outlet that he didn’t immediately publish that information because he didn’t know what Trump’s source of information was.

“The biggest problem I had, which is always a problem with Trump, is I didn’t know if it was true,” Woodward noted.

In fact, according to The Post, “In February, what Trump told Woodward seemed hard to make sense of…. back then, Woodward said, there was no panic over the virus; even toward the final days of that month, Anthony S. Fauci was publicly assuring Americans there was no need to change their daily habits.”

Woodward also said that it wasn’t until May when he learned that the information had come from a high-level intelligence briefing back in January. But, of course, that’s May. This audio didn’t come out until September, so the question persisted: Why wait until now?

To that end, Woodward told The Post that his purpose isn’t to write daily stories but to give his audience the big picture, one that he believes might have a greater impact. Instead of rushing small bits of information, Woodward said he wanted to deliver “the best obtainable version of the truth.”

At a White House event on Wednesday, Trump responded to the criticism after a reporter asked him, “Did you mislead the public by saying that you downplayed the coronavirus and that you repeatedly did that in order to reduce panic? Did you mislead the public?”

“Well, I think if you said in order to reduce panic, perhaps that’s so,” Trump said. “The fact is I’m a cheerleader for this country. I love our country. And I don’t want people to be frightened. I don’t want to create panic, as you say, and certainly, I’m not going to drive this country or the world into a frenzy. We want to show confidence. We want to show strength. We want to show strength as a nation.”

“I’m a cheerleader for this country … I don’t want people to be frightened” — Trump tries to explain why he misled the public about how bad coronavirus is pic.twitter.com/xUBnoVpHSN — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 9, 2020

Still, many have argued that informing the American public of the dangers of COVID-19 when those dangers are known is not simply spreading bad news; rather, they have said it is about telling people about the severity of the situation so that they can properly protect themselves.