A White House on the defensive after the publication of a book on Donald Trump: the scene is now familiar. In recent weeks, the work of the president’s niece, Mary Trump, and then that of his former lawyer in charge of dirty work, Michael Cohen, sentenced to prison for fraud and violation of electoral laws, has come to light. added to an already long list. The second book by journalist Bob Woodward devoted to the presidency of Donald Trump, which the CNN channel broadcast extracts on Wednesday, September 9, however, falls into another category.
In new tapes, President Trump admits to Bob Woodward he concealed critical details he knew about the coronavirus. “… Https://t.co/nNtwpiBKtb
This difference is due in part to the personality of the author, ruthless memorialist of successive American administrations, Republican as Democrats. It is also and above all based on the access that the journalist has had. In the space of six months, from December to July, Bob Woodward spoke eighteen times with the President, face to face and by telephone, and he recorded their exchanges with his assent.
Rage, the title of the book, will not be released before September 15, but its promotion is already assured by the passages made public Wednesday. They are all the more devastating for the president because they concern a subject, the Covid-19 epidemic, which thwarted his re-election campaign by depriving him of a flattering economic record, then by emphasizing the limits of his administration. . However, these extracts show that the president lied to his fellow citizens about the reality of the threat, while he is frequently accused of having delayed taking measures which he knew would have a strong impact on the economy.
Broadcast of two recordings
The news channel aired two recordings, dated February 7 and March 19. The first corresponds to the period during which the president minimized the dangerousness of the virus and praised the response provided by China, the first epicenter of a health crisis destined to become global. Donald Trump is alarmist. “You just have to breathe the air and that’s how it circulates. And so this is a very delicate question. This is a very delicate question. It is also more deadly than an intense flu ”, the president confides to Bob Woodward. “ It’s more deadly. It’s five, you know, it’s five percent versus one percent and less than one percent [pour la grippe]. You know. So these are deadly stuff. », He adds.
In the days that followed, the president publicly gave a completely different speech. ” By April, in theory, when it starts to get a little warmer, [le virus] will miraculously disappear “, he assures us as the epidemic progresses. “I think the more we advance, the more the indicators will improve”, he claims on February 19. ” We had twelve cases at one time and they are doing a lot better. Most of them are fully recovered ”, insists Donald Trump, on February 23, while multiplying the comparisons with a seasonal flu. During this period, the president also continues his campaign meetings, which bring together thousands of people in closed sports grounds.
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