US President Donald Trump, subdued but sharply defensive, insisted he hadn't lied to the American public about the severity of coronavirus even though he told a journalist on tape he was downplaying it to avoid panic.
Confronting another political crisis caused by his own words and actions, Trump sought to both assign blame elsewhere for the deadly pandemic and share responsibility for the revelation he made in February that the virus was deadly and transmitted through the air.
He took a few questions afterward, noting who he thought were the high-caliber reporters in the room, before disappearing quickly back into the West Wing. "Such a terrible question and phraseology," Trump responded when asked why he lied to the American people about the seriousness of Covid-19."I didn't lie. What I said is we have to be calm, we can't be panicked."
His response will do little to quell the uproar over Woodward's book,"Rage," which has already been used on the campaign trail to attack Trump as having mismanaged the pandemic. And while Trump referred to Woodward as a"wack job" in Michigan on Thursday night, earlier in the day, he had made it clear that it was his choice to speak extensively with the journalist most famous for exposing Nixon's Watergate scandal.
"Certainly if he thought that was a bad statement, he would have reported it, because he thinks that you know, you don't want to have anybody that is going to suffer medically because of some fact," Trump said."And he didn't report it because he didn't think it was bad, nobody thought it was bad."
Philippines Latest News, Philippines Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
US announces troop drawdown in IraqThe US commander in the Middle East announced Wednesday a drawdown of US troops in Iraq from 5,200 to 3,000 in the month of September.
Read more »
US towns destroyed as firefighters battle wildfires under orange skies – Manila Bulletin
Read more »
Michael Cohen says Trump is not joking about staying in office for more than 2 termsPresident Donald Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen said Wednesday evening that Trump isn't joking when he floats the notion of attempting to stay in the White House beyond two terms.
Read more »
Trump admits playing down coronavirus danger
Read more »
'Play it down': Trump admits to concealing the true threat of coronavirus in new Woodward bookPresident Donald Trump admitted he knew weeks before the first confirmed US coronavirus death that the virus was dangerous, airborne, highly contagious and 'more deadly than even your strenuous flus'
Read more »
Russia, China hackers targeting US vote, Microsoft warns - Manila BulletinMicrosoft said Thursday it thwarted recent cyberattacks from China, Russia and Iran targeting both Republican and Democratic presidential campaigns, as technology giants scrambled to protect election security less than two months ahead of the US vote.
Read more »