Trump admitted to playing down the COVID-19 threat and misleading the United States: how will voters react?

No matter how much Trump wants to change the subject, he cannot escape the coronavirus, writes AP.

In April, he tried to get attention by talking about the economy. Julio has already praised the history of the United States. He began September by reiterating that only he could restore “justice and order.”

But at the same time, the number of deaths of people infected with COVID-19 in the US has steadily increased. And now that Trump can’t afford to stumble in the run-up to the election, the Americans’ own words bring Americans back to the coronavirus issue.

He acknowledged that after the pandemic began, he tried to downplay the threat of COVID-19, according to published audio recordings of Trump’s interview with journalism veteran B. Woodward.

“I always wanted to downplay his (pandemic threat, ed.),” Trump told Woodward on March 19. “I still like to put him down because I don’t want to panic.”

I can’t talk about the desired topics

Of course, the second part of Trump’s idea is that he didn’t want to panic. But there are also many questions, as the coronavirus has already transported 190,000 in the United States alone. people’s lives, and that’s certainly not the end.

And growing outrage prevents the president of the United States and the Republicans from talking about economic gains, suppressing protests against institutional racism and Trump’s promise to appoint even more conservative justices to the Supreme Court before the November elections (the vote by mail has started).

On Wednesday, the president just announced a list of 20 potential Supreme Court candidates in an attempt to please religious and conservative voters.

But the news was overshadowed by the emergence of an excerpt from Woodward’s conversation with Trump, as well as decisions on the COVID-19 threat to cancel campaign events in Nevada. The White House is particularly hurt by Trump’s thoughts on the pandemic.

No matter how much Trump wants to change the subject, he cannot escape the coronavirus.

They are released at a time when, at least according to Trump’s campaign team, the public has become less concerned about the coronavirus. The president himself calmly invites people to large campaign events where only a few wear a mask.

On the other hand, there have been a number of cases in the past where Trump’s comments seemed to hurt him, for example, when he questioned the heroism of Senator John McCain or when the famous Access Hollywood movie appeared in which he spoke disrespectfully about women. .

But the ratings were not threatened, on the contrary, he won the 2016 presidential election.

Scattered statements

On Wednesday night, Trump did not deny that he was talking about downplaying the threat of a pandemic and tried to justify himself.

“The fact is that I am a source of inspiration for this country. I love this country and I don’t want people to be afraid. I don’t want to panic. Clearly, I will not panic in this country or in the world. We want to show confidence in ourselves. We want to show strength ”, explained the president of the United States.

Yet such an explanation testified once again that he is trying not to speak to the United States about reality. And Woodward, in his book Anger, writes that Trump was warned in January that the COVID-19 virus could be extremely devastating.

D. Trump: I love this country and I don’t want people to be afraid. I don’t want to panic. Clearly, I will not panic in this country or in the world. We want to show confidence in ourselves. We want to show strength.

But on February 25, Trump just announced that “the virus is very well controlled in our country.”

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has already attacked Trump. He said: “Short lied to the American people. Knowing this and wanting to do it, he lied about the threat posed by the virus to the country for several months.

“When our country was ravaged by a deadly disease, it failed to fulfill its duties, especially. It betrayed the American people,” added Biden.

Soon, Trump’s own words, published in a recording published by CNN, already appeared in a video clip of the Biden campaign, which was broadcast on television and at the end of which a voice behind the scenes said: “Trump always knew (about the threat, ed.) “.

Trump spoke to Woodward not once, but 18 times. For example, on February 7 he spoke of the coronavirus in the following way: “You just breathe and pass by. Therefore, it is very complicated. It is very delicate. The virus is deadlier than the flu. It is mortal “.

But just three days later, the president of the United States spoke much more optimistically. He told Fox Business: “I think everything will be fine with the virus.”

Already on February 25, D. Trump said: “It is similar to the simple flu for which we have been vaccinated. We will also have this virus. “

He soon called Democrats ‘concern over the government’s slow response to the virus threat a “new scam,” then, in full knowledge of epidemiologists’ assessments, lobbied state governors to lift restrictions as soon as possible. possible.

Critic and journalist

It may be too soon, but discussions in the United States have already gathered momentum about how news of Trump’s bizarre tactics could turn the tables before the presidential election. Polls show that the current president is notably behind Biden.

However, several commentators believe that the latest reports will not change the opinion of those voters who have already chosen to vote for Trump, that the United States is clearly divided along ideological lines.

“A lot of people who support him will say that, yes, we all knew the virus was deadly, it is not news. Others will say that Trump hid the problem, but his supporters will think that he wanted people to be calm. That he did not want to panic “said Gary Abernathy, a reporter for The Washington Post.

Mr. Abernathy: People thought and thought that more specific restrictions were needed. Fireplaces? Yes, drastic action was needed. But people didn’t like the shutdown of all of Ohio.

The correspondent works in the fluctuating state of Ohio and said he noticed that people did not like that public life was completely “closed” in the spring.

“People thought and thought that more specific restrictions were needed. Fireplaces? Yes, drastic action was needed. But people didn’t like the shutdown of all of Ohio, “Abernathy said.

By the way, many analysts now feel sorry for Woodward: why did he hide how Trump really behaves if he heard from him in the fight that the president’s goal is to reduce the threat of a pandemic?

For example, Griffin Connolly, the British correspondent for The Independent in Washington, spoke directly to Woodward: “What the hell did you think? Why did you hide these records for half a year, even though you knew their content contradicted what the president had said in public at a very important early stage of the pandemic? “

Woodward now says he wanted to make sure that Trump’s comments in February that the virus was deadly and dangerous were true. He was only convinced of this in May, but by then the virus had already spread throughout the United States.

“If I had written then, in May, about what Trump knew in February, we would not have learned anything new. Then the crisis was already political. So the date of the election in November became the demarcation line for me, ”said the journalist.

But Trump himself wrote on Twitter when he woke up on Twitter: “Bob Woodward has had my speeches for many months. If you thought they were so bad or dangerous, why didn’t you report them immediately to save lives?

Didn’t you feel compelled to do so? No, because I knew that my answers were good and appropriate. Peace, no panic! “