More evidence continues to emerge that President Trump knew the lethality and transmissibility of coronavirus, but ignored the science to put American lives in harm’s way. In mid-April, Trump told Bob Woodward: “This thing is a killer if it gets you,” even as he called to “LIBERATE” states with lock-down orders and undercut policies designed to save lives.
Donald Trump continues to recklessly disregard the dangers that he knows exist, even as nearly 200,000 people in the United States have lost their lives. He still ridicules mask wearing, hosts dangerous indoor super spreader rallies, and refuses to take action that would curb this crisis.
MID-APRIL: President Trump Told Reporter Bob Woodward, “This Thing Is a Killer,” and “It’s So Easily Transmissible.”
Trump On April 13: “This Thing Is A Killer If It Gets You. If You’re The Wrong Person.”
- “New Woodward audio from April 13 via CNN: TRUMP: This thing is a killer if it gets you. If you’re the wrong person, you don’t have a chance. WOODWARD: Yes, yes, exactly. TRUMP: So this rips you apart. WOODWARD: This is a scourge. And– TRUMP: It is the plague.” [Twitter, @kylegriffin1, 9/14/20]
Trump On April 13: “It’s So Easily Transmissible, You Wouldn’t Even Believe It.”
- “‘Bob, it’s so easily transmissible, you wouldn’t even believe it,’ Trump can be heard saying on the tape, which Woodward recorded on April 13th, 2020, and shared with Stephen Colbert for Monday night’s episode of The Late Show. The president goes on to tell what he apparently thought was a hilarious story about being in the Oval Office with a group of advisers when one of them let out a sneeze. ‘A guy sneezed, innocently,’ Trump says. ‘Not a horrible—just a sneeze. The entire room bailed out, OK? Including me, by the way.’” [Daily Beast, 9/14/20]
Around This Admission, Trump Recklessly Called to “LIBERATE” States, Falsely Claimed the Virus Would Disappear, Suggested People Inject Disinfectants and Cut WHO Funding
On April 3, Trump Promised: “I Said It’s Going Away, And It Is Going Away.”
- “April 3. Said during a coronavirus news briefing. Cases: 275,586. Deaths: 7,087. ‘It is going to go away. It is going away. … I said it’s going away, and it is going away.’” [Washington Post, 4/28/20]
On April 15, Trump Halted Funding For The World Health Organization.
- “President Donald Trump announced Tuesday he is halting funding to the World Health Organization while a review is conducted. Trump said the review would cover the WHO’s ‘role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of coronavirus.’ Trump’s announcement comes in the middle of the worst global pandemic in decades and as he angrily defends his own handling of the outbreak in the United States. Amid swirling questions about whether he downplayed the crisis or ignored warnings from members of his administration about its potential severity, Trump has sought to assign blame elsewhere, including at the WHO and in the news media.” [CNN, 4/15/20]
On April 17, Trump Tweeted To “LIBERATE” States Like Minnesota, Michigan And Virginia, Encouraging Residents To Defy Stay At Home Orders Issued By Democratic Governors.
- “Just a day after issuing guidance for re-opening America that clearly deferred decision-making to state officials — as it must under our Constitutional order — the president undercut his own guidance by calling for criminal acts against the governors for not opening fast enough. Trump tweeted, ‘LIBERATE MINNESOTA!’ followed immediately by ‘LIBERATE MICHIGAN!’ and then ‘LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!’ This follows Wednesday’s demonstration in Michigan, in which armed protestors surrounded the state capitol building in Lansing chanting ‘Lock her up!’ in reference to Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and ‘We will not comply,’ in reference to her extension of the state’s coronavirus-related stay-at-home order. Much smaller and less-armed groups had on Thursday protested on the state capitol grounds in Richmond, Va., and outside the governor’s mansion in St. Paul, Minn.” [Washington Post, 4/17/20]
On April 24, President Trump Suggested Injecting Disinfectants As A Treatment For Coronavirus.
- “‘And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute,’ Mr. Trump said after a presentation from William N. Bryan, an acting under secretary for science at the Department of Homeland Security, detailed the virus’s possible susceptibility to bleach and alcohol. ‘One minute,’ the president said. ‘And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that.’” [New York Times, 4/24/20]
On April 28, Trump Repeated: “I Think What Happens Is It’s Going To Go Away. This Is Going To Go Away.”
- “April 28. Later in Tuesday’s news conference, Trump again claimed that the virus would simply go away, just as he had two months and two days earlier, when there were those 15 cases that would be gone in a few days. ‘I think what happens is it’s going to go away. This is going to go away.’” [Washington Post, 4/28/20]
Despite Privately Acknowledging How Contagious The Virus Was In Early April, Trump Has Mocked Mask Wearing For Months And Continues to Flout Guidance
On May 26, Trump Accused A Reporter Of Being “Politically Correct” For Wearing A Mask While Asking Questions During A Press Conference At The White House.
- “President Donald Trump suggested to a news reporter they were being ‘politically correct’ for wearing a face mask during a press conference at the Rose Garden of the White House on Tuesday afternoon. Trump, who was speaking about federal assistance for senior citizens with diabetes, was answering two questions from Reuters White House correspondent Jeff Mason.” [Business Insider, 5/26/20]
On June 19, Trump Claimed Americans Were Wearing Facemasks Only To Signal Disapproval Of Him.
- “Mr. Trump said testing for Covid-19 was overrated and allowed for the possibility that some Americans wore facial coverings not as a preventive measure but as a way to signal disapproval of him. Many public-health experts say testing followed by quarantining sick individuals and their close contacts is crucial to contain the spread of the virus.” [Wall Street Journal, 7/19/20]
On June 20, Trump Flouted CDC Guidelines And Did Not Require Mask Wearing During His Indoor Rally In Tulsa, Oklahoma.
- “Inside, virtually none of those assembled in front of the stage wore masks, and few throughout the rest of the arena had face covers. The few who did were vastly outnumbered by those who did not. ‘What we are seeing at this rally is a very overt denial’ that coronavirus still poses a health danger, Dr. Irwin Redlener, the director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, said on MSNBC. ‘How bizarre has this gotten?’” [NBC News, 6/20/20]
On July 21, Trump Baselessly Told Reporters: “In Theory, You Don’t Need The Mask.”
- “Despite his insistence during his prepared remarks that American embrace widespread mask usage, during reporter questions, the president took a softer stance on them, saying without evidence: “In theory, you don’t need the mask,” but acknowledging that he was growing more comfortable with wearing them.” [NPR, 7/21/20]
On September 13, Trump Held An Indoor Campaign Rally In Henderson, Nevada Where Attendees Were Not Required To Wear Masks Or Practice Social Distancing.
- “Thousands of Mr. Trump’s supporters crowded into a manufacturing hall in Henderson, a Las Vegas suburb, most of them forgoing face masks and not socially distanced, violating Nevada’s pandemic rules limiting social gatherings to 50 people or fewer. Mr. Trump’s supporters were crammed together on white folding chairs on the floor of the Xtreme Manufacturing plant for his first indoor rally since June 20 in Tulsa.” [Washington Post, 9/15/20]
[New York Times, 9/14/20]