'I wanted to always play it down,' Trump says in an interview with Woodward on March 19, according to a CNN preview of the book 'Rage.'
President Donald Trump admits he tried to minimize the seriousness of the threat from COVID-19 at the outset of the pandemic in audio recordings released Wednesday from interviews with veteran US journalist Bob Woodward.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump denounced the book as"another political hit job" and said if he'd downplayed COVID-19 it was to prevent a"frenzy." In the interviews with Woodward, Trump made clear he'd understood at the outset that the virus was"deadly stuff" – far more dangerous than the ordinary flu.
The president has repeatedly insisted that he has successfully managed the pandemic, which is soon on track to take 200,000 lives in the country.
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