Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris slammed President Donald Trump after he admitted to a journalist during an interview back in March, that he “downplayed” the “deadly” COVID-19 pandemic.
“Trump knew in February. He knew that COVID-19 passes through the air. He knew it is deadlier than the flu,” Harris tweeted. “He knew it is dangerous to more than just our elderly and vulnerable. He purposely downplayed the pandemic. And now, 190,000 Americans are dead.”
And sadly, this is one piece of information that Trump cannot label as “fake news.”
In the audio, Trump speaks with Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward. “I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic,” Trump told Woodward on March 19 in excerpts of audio interviews.
It appears that even Trump knew better than to deny the reports. During a press conference, he doubled down on his statements to reporters.
The fact is, I’m a cheerleader for this country,” Trump said. “I love our country, and I don’t want people to be frightened.”
He added, “We don’t want to instill panic. We don’t want to jump up and down and start shouting that we have a problem that is a tremendous problem.”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany also addressed the issue on Wednesday. “At a time when you’re facing insurmountable challenges, it’s important to express confidence, it’s important to express calm,” McEnany said.
Bizarrely, Trump also spilled details about a nuclear weapons program to the respected journalist.
“I have built a nuclear — a weapons system that nobody’s ever had in this country before,” Trump told Woodward. “We have stuff that you haven’t even seen or heard about. We have stuff that Putin and Xi have never heard about before. There’s nobody — what we have is incredible.”
