Journalist Bob Woodward claims President Donald Trump downplayed the seriousness of the coronavirus during a phone call.
In February, Trump spoke to Woodward who was doing research for his latest book, Rage. Woodward claimed Trump downplayed the threat of the coronavirus at the time to prevent the public from panicking.
Democrats reacted with outrage to the leaked audio, saying Trump “intentionally” mislead the general public about the virus that originated in Wuhan, China in December.
On the campaign trail in Michigan, Joe Biden told auto workers that Trump “lied” about the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic, saying Trump’s admission was “a life and death betrayal of the American people.”
But Dr. Anthony Fauci, who heads the White Task Force on the coronavirus, told Fox News: “I don’t think [Trump] ever distorted things that I spoke to him about.”
Fauci added: “I don’t think he said much different than what we said [to him] when we were in the Oval Office.”
The White House Task Force held daily press briefings and Fauci even predicted that “millions” of Americans would die from the virus.
On Jan. 30, Trump told his supporters at a rally in Des Moines, Iowa, “We’re working with China just so you know, and other countries very, very closely, so it doesn’t get out of hand, but it’s something that we have to be very, very careful with, right? We have to be very careful.
