Bob Woodward Exposes What Trump Knew About Covid-19

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   Valeantposted 3 years ago

   
   Woodward has released audio of Trump in February going over how dangerous Covid-19 was at the time.  Trump continues to confirm he was downplaying that danger to the American public, almost boasting about it.
   
   Should there be criminality for this since many Americans have failed to take the right actions to diminish the virus in the United States based off of what Trump has said?

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      Sharlee01posted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Today after this report came out, Dr. Fuaci stepped up with his opinion and pretty much-felt the president was not downplaying the virus when he spoke to Americans from the Taskforce press conferences. He reported what he had learned from the Taskforce.
      
         I have not had much time to really listen to Woodward tapes. I will save my opinion at this point. I did catch Dr. Fauci earlier on Fox, he seemed satisfied with the way Trump was handling his reports to the American people. Fauci also would not stand behind a quote from the Woodward book that was something he was supposed to have said. I will be interested to hear more tapes. The one I did hear was no biggy. Just my view. I am sure there will be more tapes to be released this evening.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZudqu5MTmE

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         Valeantposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         'Today after this report came out, Dr. Fauci stepped up with his opinion and pretty much-felt the president was not downplaying the virus when he spoke to Americans from the Taskforce press conferences. He reported what he had learned from the Taskforce.'
         
         “I wanted to always play it down,” Trump told Woodward on March 19, according to a copy of the book. “I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.”  Hard to argue he wasn't downplaying it when the guy admits to it.
         
         And downplaying led Americans to thinking they were safe, when Trump knew it was airborne and held six rallies after having that information.  Just another example of Trump first and how he's more than willing to endanger American lives for his own self-interest.

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            Sharlee01posted 3 years agoin reply to this

            The statement Trump made about the virus having the ability to spread via airborne was curious. I don't believe even as of yet that that has been proven scientifically. I have read articles that this is being studied. As of late Aug 3, Fauci felt there could be a degree of aerosolization threat, but not proven as of yet. 
            
            "White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Monday that he thinks “there certainly is a degree of aerosolization” causing the coronavirus to spread, although the topic is still being studied.
            
            In July, the WHO published new guidance that acknowledged it can’t rule out the possibility the coronavirus can be transmitted through air particles in closed spaces indoors, including in gyms and restaurants.
            
            Fauci --- said it has become “much clearer” that someone is likely at greater risk if they’re in an indoor space where there’s less air circulation and “any degree of aerosolization.” Fauci --- "But I’m going to take a step back and make sure that we learn the facts before we start talking about it.”
            
            I would be curious where Trump got the idea the virus was an airborne virus back in March.
            
            https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/03/fauci-s … icles.html

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            Sharlee01posted 3 years agoin reply to this

            The president was taking the advice of the taskforce. It is clear by what Fauci was saying in the beginning, up until now...  The media has skewed the progression, and what was done when. One only need to do a small amount of research to see the President was taking the advice of the scientists, and physicians. 
            
            Jan 21 --  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD-xBdMKiSQ
              Feb -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zepfDvHY-iE&t=169s
            
            The president may have been off-handed with his words, but not his deeds... He saved many lives with his travel ban. And recieved backlash for the ban.

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               Valeantposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               Your first link is 17 days prior to information Trump relayed to Woodward and only one day into the first case being discovered in the US.  And even in that one Fauci says to follow CDC guidelines as only one case had been detected at that point in time.
               
               The second one, I only caught the end, but Fauci seemed to back China's approach that they felt a lockdown was needed.

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                  Sharlee01posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  I was pointing out Trump's comment was formed by the information he was given from the beginning. from the beginning, he was given lots of information on the actual science of the virus. The video substantiates Fauci's opinion on what the virus was and could pose. The word COULD should stand out. The president did at that point was playing the virus down due to what information he was given.
                  
                  I had hoped to point out Trump was doing everything the task force was telling him to do. That's the bottom line. It seems I look at deed you are hung up on words.  I also pointed out to you in another thread There is still to this very day no real evidence that the virus is spread vis airborne. I offered you several articles, one that quoted Fauci.
                  
                  Trump had no real evidence of the virus spreading by the airborne method. He seemed to not know what he was even talking about in regards to how the virus spread. So, at the point of the Woodward interview, he may have said something he should not have due to any real knowledge. But he was doing all he was told to do in regard to the virus.
                  
                  The media is miss leading what was actually known about the virus when it was known, and what the president was being advised to do.
                  
                  I have studied the timeline, which is very easy to do, I have unraveled what was known when, and what actions were taken due to what the task force recommended. 
                  
                  I can see we look at things differently, it would be to either of our benefits to continue the conversation. I see your point, it is shared with many. But for me, I have done a lot of digging, and have a completely different view on how the president handled the pandemic. 
                  
                  I will say he did not uses common sense when being interviewed by Woodward. He seemed to be ill-educated on the virus and ad-libbed as he went along, on how virulent it was. I don't think scientists even know today all that we need to know about the new virus...

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                     Sychophantasticposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                     I'm sorry, but this is just nuts, and a clear indication that no logical exchange of ideas can be had.
                     
                     So when Trump lies and the media points it out, the media is at fault. And even when we have Trump's own words backing up the truth of him intentionally downplaying the virus and letting people die, the explanation is he didn't really know what he was talking about. Literally, there is nothing Trump can say or do that can't be explained away.
                     
                     I'll tell you what, Jared Kushner really had things right. It's like Alice in Wonderland. Trump is just creating his own reality and his supporters are doing the same.
                     
                     Still, to this day, he's making fun of people wearing masks. He's actively pushing people to be maskless. He's actively promoting the spread of the virus and harming people. But none of it matters.

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                     Valeantposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                     'I had hoped to point out Trump was doing everything the task force was telling him to do. That's the bottom line. It seems I look at deed you are hung up on words.'
                     
                     If that were true, Trump would have been promoting social distancing and mask wearing early on in this thing, something he still fights against even though it's in the public interest.  He wouldn't have undermined Democratic governors when they felt lockdowns were best for their state, because that's something that went against a need Trump had for his interest in the economy.
                     
                     And yeah, I agree, Trump might have been trying to note that this is passed via particles in the air and not by touch when he made his point to Woodward, as the research is still not definitive about solely airborne spread.

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                        Sharlee01posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                        Again you feel his words were more important \than dees. He certainly did not wear a mask, he did appear to let the task force come up with the mitigations they felt were appropriate, and offer the mitigations from the daily taskforce daily press conference. 
                        
                        I would think American's would be more apt to listen to the task force than Trump when it comes to mitigations. I am not sure it makes sense to not give our citizens more credit. I do realize there are some that followed his lead. But generally, most Gov mandated mask be worn, as well as distance.
                        
                        I wish you would consider, just asking yourself, what anyone could have done that was a layman faced with a new virus and had to take advice from the experts. And after doing so he now is accused of killing Americans'.  No one, not Joe, not me, not you could stop a new virus without actually being given the right information from the experts. Out CDC, WHO, and yes Fauci failed him early on. Early on was when the virus may have been handled with more mitigations.
                        
                        In my opinion, playing a blame game is ridiculous. There are just too many to blame.   
                        
                        I will give you a helpful tip, get your flu shot this fall. We have four different flu predicted. All known,  strains of the flu virus. influenzas A strains — H1N1 and H3N2 — and one influenza B strain.
                        
                        As you see H1N1 will circulate. It has much the same symptoms as COVID. It is dangerous and causes death in all ages.

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                           Valeantposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                           As always, we will see this president's actions and inactions, truths and lies, through opposing prisms.  It's barely worth debating honestly.
                           
                           Good advice on the flu shot.  After getting Covid, considering it because not sure I need anything else to go wrong this year.

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                              Sharlee01posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                              Did not realize you contracted COVID. Stay well. And do get this year flu shot.

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                        wildernessposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                        "He wouldn't have undermined Democratic governors when they felt lockdowns were best for their state, because that's something that went against a need Trump had for his interest in the economy."
                        
                        This is a very common stance from those that look at the COVID crises from only one viewpoint, such as the CDC and Fauci.  But in truth the economy, and maintaining enough semblance of an operating economy to actually grow it back in a reasonable amount of time, is more important than saving a few lives.  We've all seen or heard of countries whose economies failed, and the cost is so far beyond anything COVID would produce that there is no comparison.
                        
                        And that is something that Trump must consider, and do so whether it helps him in the election or not.  The naysayers don't want to discuss it because a vibrant economy would ensure re-election, and a destroyed one ensure a Democrat in office, but it still there, hiding under the rug.

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                           Valeantposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                           The funny thing is, if Trump would have brought the nation together to do all the right things to quell the spread of the virus, people's belief that it was safe to re-engage in the economy would have achieved both his goals.  His re-election would have been all but assured. 
                           
                           But, because he lied about the dangers and then fought against the basic health measures needed to get the virus under control as many other nation's have done, people are still uneasy about fully going back to any normality.  Add to that, that over 66% of the country believes he's politicizing a vaccine and that it won't be safe to take, and that will add to the length of time this virus stays active inside our country.

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                              PrettyPantherposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                              Spot on.

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                                 promisemposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                                 You apparently have stolen the name of an esteemed former poster named Pretty Panther. You have to give it back.
                                 
                                 Her far right opponents on here insisted that she was "permanently banned". And they're always right. Or maybe just far right. 

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                                    Valeantposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                                    I see what you did there....:>

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                                    PrettyPantherposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                                    lol, it's possible I started the rumor myself, because I told Randy and GA that the message I received when trying to post was different from previous bannings and included no time frame.
                                    
                                    For better or worse, I'm back. ;-)

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                                       GA Andersonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                                       Hmm . . .  "For better or worse . . . " Where have I heard that phrase before?
                                       
                                       GA

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                                          Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                                          GA, it is likely at PrettyPanthers'  'Royal Wedding.' Lol!

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                              wildernessposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                              Out of 50 governors, not a single one has brought even their single state together, and yet you think Trump should have done so for the entire country!  Even those 50 governors did not agree on what should be done, with actions ranging from virtually nothing to virtual statewide shutdown.
                              
                              I trust you can understand just how silly it sounds to hear Trump taken to task for not unifying a country with such savage efforts nationwide to divide it.

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      Sychophantasticposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Well, now that we know what we know, a vote for Trump this November is like voting for Hitler after you just learned he had constructed all those gas chambers.

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         Valeantposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Knowing his administration halted a national testing program because the ravaging of the virus was in Democratic states and would help him politically is pretty equivalent, actually.

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            Sychophantasticposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            Agreed. What's kind of funny too is that I thought Nancy Pelosi did an incredibly stupid thing getting her hair done in California and trusting the salon owner to interpret the law for her. Idiocy. Then to say she was tricked is like admitting you're stupid.
            
            But then Trump has just taken her right out of the news. To let Bob Woodward tape you because you actually think that you can convince him that you're doing a great job is beyond stupid. According to all reports, Trump alone made this decision. He wanted to cement his legacy. He thought he could just spin things and Woodward would eat it up.

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               Valeantposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               Cartoon makes an assumption that Trump can read, otherwise it's funny.
               
               

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               PrettyPantherposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               This is textbook Narcissistic Personality Disorder. He truly believes he is so brilliant that others will be blown away by his superiority and perfection. Everything he does is perfect (he believes)  and he is truly surprised when others don't see it that way.

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            Sharlee01posted 3 years agoin reply to this

            The CDC new testing recommendations
            https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nc … rview.html
            
            It is up to the individual governors on of they decrease testing. In Michigan, our Gov continues to test as she has for the last four months.
            
            So, if there is blame in regards to decreased testing, blame Governors. There are no states with ravaging numbers at this point. The death toll is way down, as well as new cases are falling.

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               Valeantposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               Your media must not have told you that someone within Kushner's task force went to the media claiming that the decision to stop a national testing program back in April was based on political reasons.  Here are the details:
               
               In the spring of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began spreading across the U.S., a team led by Jared Kushner, senior adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, was tasked with coming up with a nationwide testing plan.
               
               But the plan — which initially outlined a federally coordinated distribution of test kits, a national contact-tracing infrastructure, and a nationwide repository of test results, among other ambitious goals — was dropped by the end of April, in favor of a haphazard state-led response. One of the reasons this occurred, reportedly, was the calculation that leaving Democrat-run states to their own devices could be politically advantageous.

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               Nathanvilleposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               Really?  How can you say: “The death toll is way down, as well as new cases are falling.”
               
               The main reason why new confirmed cases had fallen is because fewer tests are being done e.g. fewer tests being done, fewer infected people detected.  Two weeks ago 800,000 tests were being carried out a day; that has now dropped to 600,000 a day.  In spite of the significant drop in testing (25% fewer tests per day), the fall in new confirmed (detected) cases hasn’t been so significant and since the 12th September has been on the rise again; so new confirmed cases are still hovering around 40,000 a day, as it has been for the past month, and on the rise again.
               
               The death toll certainly hasn’t fallen; it’s still hovering around 1,000 deaths a day, as it has been for the past two months, and is on the rise again.
               
               With 200,000 deaths already, and predictions that it could be in excess of 400,000 by the end of the year:  How high does the death toll in the USA have to get before you recognise that it’s a serious problem?  Remembering it’s not just the elderly, 20% of deaths (according to CDC data) are people below the age of 65, and includes children.

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         Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Historically, it is truth that Hitler construct gas chambers to finish of the Jews specific.                                                      The covid-19 virus has been debunk as being created in the laboratory. That is commom sense. No virilogist has exported, or created same for. Trump, nor has he import same from any country.                                                              Only a person who does not like Trump will compare him to Adolf Hitler.They are contrast and in all their deeds.

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            Valeantposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            Well, considering they are deceiving women to remove their uteri so they cannot reproduce at one ICE facility, making comparisons to the experiments that were done to people in concentration camps isn't a totally unrealistic comparison any longer.
            
            https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nat … 482369001/

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               Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

               Good point. All the wrongs done in that specific private prison were not under President Trump administration, agreed?                                         Had Trump set up the correction center on the inception of his government, then every wrong lands on his desk.

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                  Valeantposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  No, but it does warrant a more thorough investigation to determine if sterilizing immigrant women at other locations has now become another of this administration's inhumane policies against humanity.

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      peterstreepposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      The most frightening and sad thing about how president Trump is handling the Covid-19 crisis is that Trump shows an anti-scientific attitude.
      The US is great in science, many thought leaders and great scientists come from the US.
      But there is also a huge anti-science tendency in the US. Trump shows this side of American society. He thinks that he knows better than scientists who study vaccines and virology. and even supports conspiracy theories in his tweets.
      This anti-science attitude worries me. Trump shows the same anti-science attitude when talking about the current climate crisis we are in. Telling the public that there is no relation between the huge fires in Carlifornia and climate change, there clearly is.
      I don't know why President Trump has this anti-science attitude. Is he afraid of reality, denying the biggest problems as not to face them? Not wanting to be responsible and thus downplaying the huge problems of our time? Is it a money thing as he promotes coal and oil? I don't know.
      But anti-science is in the world we live in a deadly and destructive course. We live in an era of knowledge. Science is super important and wins wars, controls societies. It is the key to the future of humankind. And Trump is not listening to it. That worries me.

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         Sychophantasticposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Good point, Peter. We call anti-science anti-smart. That describes him perfectly. He up-plays stupidity.

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            peterstreepposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            I don't think that anti-science is the same as anti-smart. There are a lot of smart people who do not believe in scientific facts. Many religious people still have a problem with the evolution theory for instance.
            Another thing that worries me is the anti-student attitude. People who are mistrusting universities because of political believes. The promotion of mistrusting science and universities is a classic dictatorial characteristic. By a coup in a country, the first who go to jail are the intellectuals and students. Science is a threat to dictatorships.
            The fact that Trump still denies Climate Crisis tells it all. It is the same as with tobacco companies who fought to the bitter end to convince people that there was nothing wrong with smoking. Menthol sigarets...It almost sounds like medicine and healthy.
            The same is happening for years with the Climate Crisis. Companies are sewing doubt about scientific facts. Oil and Gas companies know for decennia the facts, but it is in there interest to keep the people ignorant.
            Trump plays the same book. He is heavenly involved in the construction, gas, and other industries. To promote action to stop the climate crisis is against his own interest and the many companies that sponsor him.
            The anti-science climate is carefully constructed. The US is a highly capitalistic country. The old capitalism does not like the facts of science that show without a doubt that we live in a climate crisis, made by mankind. Made by the capitalistic growth-economy.
            Many religious people are not willing to accept the climate crisis made by man either. As God gave mankind the earth to make use of and all it's animals and plants and minerals. This religious part is big friends with capitalism. But both don't want to see the consequences of this philosophy. That we as humans destroy the world we live on.
            And this should be the biggest reason not to vote for Trump. As his administration willingly destroys the world through mining, drilling, fracking, etc. Trump is a Rockefeller in a digital age. The old gold. It's not for nothing that he hates modern gold like Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg and Gates. Trump is the past not the future. If Trump wins it is over and out for the US as a dominant world leader. And I dread to think who will jump into the vacuum.

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   Valeantposted 3 years ago

   Interesting quote today from a former Trump insider:
   
   "For the Trumps, there are no rules," he continued. "They live by their own rules. Including thinking he can get the better of Bob Woodward sitting down with a tape recorder and in front of his mouth. And sitting there and spewing lies that he knows are lies.
   
   And again, I talked about this. It's very Stalinistic. If you say something enough times, people believe it. That's something he manages to do. And he's managed to do that to 38 percent of the country. His base. They listen to what he says. They accept what he says and go and promote it as if it's legitimate."
   
   He also explained how much the Trump Org. is like a cult.
   
   "Unfortunately, the Trump Organization is — I have described it — is very much like a cult," Cohen began. "And it's interesting he used in the Woodward tape today the word cool-aid, which is from the Jonestown Massacre. Which I thought was somewhat interesting. Not only is the Trump Organization like a cult, but so is the White House."

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