Trump Downplays But He Knew Coronavirus Was 'Deadly'

Volume 2, Issue No. 16

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail. com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . .

Our latest as of Friday, September 18, 2020 

~ The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bob Woodward scored big in a series of interviews this year with Donald Trump. The details are in his newly-released bombshell of a book "Rage". American networks have publicized significant excerpts from the book showing how the US president fumbled on many fronts, particularly in the COVID-19 pandemic that has already claimed the lives of nearly 200,000 Americans. 

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THE UNRAVELLING IN BOB WOODWARD'S BOOK 'RAGE'

Is the Pandemic Donald Trump's Waterloo?

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

"There's dynamite behind every door." - Donald Trump, US president 

TORONTO - At least a dozen books about Donald Trump, wife Melania, and his adult children, are out in the public sphere, most of them detailing the unsavory persona of the incumbent US president.

I have five of those added to my personal library, the latest of which is "Rage" by American journalist Bob Woodward, an associate editor at the Washington Post. Just released this week, the book documents a series of long interviews with Trump covering a range of topics.

"Rage" basically confirms the intimate insights laid bare by Mary L. Trump, his niece, in her landmark tell-all "Too Much and Never Enough" subtitled "How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man". (Full story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2020/08/mary-l-trump-i-cant-let-donald-trump.html).

It also attests to the official allegations in the White House memoir "The Room Where It Happened" by former ambassador John Bolton while he was US National Security Advisor. (Related story at: https://filwebchannelmagazine.blogspot.com/2020/08/donald-trump-gets-bashed-by-his-sister.html).

As most everyone knows, Woodward, and a colleague, Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein, were the intrepid investigative reporters instrumental in the resignation of President Richard Nixon in August 1974 in the aftermath of their exposé on the Watergate burglary. (Background: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_scandal).

As a history buff, and also because of the unprecedented controversies surrounding Trump and his administration, I'm thinking of collecting all published materials about him at a cost that would surely dent my limited means.

But what the heck, nourishing the brain is equally important as feeding our stomach with regular food. It is that important for me as a journalist and as a student of politics.

By his own doing, Trump is unraveling himself. His minions are also being unscrambled by their canine loyalty to him at the dreadful expense of "we the people . . . " A rare chapter in mankind's history is in the making and we are all witnesses to it.

It isn't that Trump is pulling off notable achievements while comfortably seated and safely secured in the White House, definitely no! 

Rather, it is the egregious lies he shamelessly peddles to win reelection on November 3 that's driving the many grotesque narratives. We all must take notice.

He sets aside science and gives false hopes to people held captive by COVID-19, rushing the development of a vaccine, for one, obviously to lift his dwindling chance of serving another four years.

That's one of the most telling parts of Woodward's accounts in "Rage". Published reports in multimedia this week have highlighted Trump's repeated discourse that a vaccine was on the cusp of being developed and distributed within weeks, meaning before the Nov. 3 polls.

In February when there were only 12 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the US, Trump told Woodward: "I think that that goes away in two months with the heat. You know as it gets hotter that tends to kill the virus. You know, you hope".

The following month, specifically on March 19, according to the book, the president had deliberately avoided calling attention to the spreading virus which his national security adviser Robert O'Brien had warned him about as early as the last week of January.

"I wanted to always play it down," Trump told Woodward in one of his 17 interviews in person and by phone. "I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic".

In another talk with Woodward detailing his conversation with China President Xi Jinping, Trump acknowledged that the virus was "more deadly than even your strenuous flus". Quite significantly, the journalist noted Trump's use of the adjective "deadly".

"Deadly" indeed was how the situation would be in the following months. In Trump's own words, "this is deadly stuff". While he conceded to the virus's catastrophic effects on the country, Trump continues to evade full responsibility as the country's leader, even flouting the laws and health regulations. 

As of this writing on Friday, September 18, 2020, the United States accounts for 6.69 million cases out of the world's total of 30.19 million cases. The total number of US deaths is at 197,529, the highest of any country, versus the world total of 946,490 deaths.

"I now see that Trump's handling of the virus - certainly the greatest test for him and his presidency, at least so far - reflects the instincts, habits and style acquired in the first years as president and over the course of a  lifetime," writes Woodward.

"One of the great questions of any presidency is: How does it end? But so is the question: How did it begin? So we turn there". (Copyright 2020. All Rights Reserved).