Watergate journalist Bob Woodward on Monday recalled a comment by former President Donald Trump that led him to be “as stunned as I’ve ever been as a reporter.”
On Monday’s broadcast of “CNN Tonight,” Woodward shared audio of Trump telling him — during interviews he recorded for his 2020 book “Rage,” now released separately as “The Trump Tapes” — what he told his young son Barron Trump told during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump, speaking to Woodward on March 19, 2020, said that Barron (then 13) had asked him what was going on and he replied:
“I said it was from China, Barron. Pure and simple. It came from China. And it should have been stopped. And to be fair, Barron, two months earlier they should have let them know it was a problem… the world wouldn’t have a problem. We could have easily stopped it.”
“CNN Tonight” host Jake Tapper acknowledged that the Chinese government was to blame for covering up the initial spread of COVID-19. But he reminded viewers how Trump himself had been warned of its potential dangers — and chose not to do anything about it.
At the time of recording that particular interview with Trump, Woodward said he had no idea of the warning the then-president had been given by his own national security advisers about the virus.
When Woodward heard of the warning, he said he listened to the tape again and concluded: “My God, Trump is cheating not only on me but his son and he explains, ‘Oh this could have been fixed, the Chinese could have done something about.’ Donald Trump could have done something about it by being honest and warning the public that as president he has a constitutional and moral responsibility.”
Watch the interview here:
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
