Woodward releases new Trump ‘audio’ on The Late Show [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Veteran Journalist Bob Woodward released new audio of his interview with President Donald Trump on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday night.
• In his April 13th interview with Woodward, Trump was being more cautious with the virus, noting everybody in the room “bailed out” when one participant sneezed during a White House meeting.
• Woodward believed that Trump has failed in handling the coronavirus pandemic in the US.

In his Monday night appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, journalist Bob Woodward exposed new audio of his interview recordings with President Donald Trump.

In the February and March interviews, Trump said that he was aware of the deadly threat posed by the coronavirus and he intentionally played it down, which he had done.

The president still proceeded with his huge rallies in March and refused to wear a face mask in public despite CDC’s advisory. He also described criticisms of his COVID-19 handling as ‘Democrat hoax’ on those gatherings.

However, in his April 13th conversation with Woodward, Trump was more watchful.

“Bob, it’s so easily transmissible, you wouldn’t even believe it,” Trump said.

“I mean, you could, you could be in the room…I was in the White House a couple of days ago, meeting of 10 people in the Oval Office and a guy sneezed—innocently. Not a horrible—you know, just a sneeze. The entire room bailed out, okay? Including me, by the way.”

“Well, I know he’s making light there at the end…but at the heart of that is something extraordinarily shocking,” Colbert reacted after hearing the audio.

On Sunday, Trump held an indoor rally in Nevada which barely followed social distancing and wearing of face coverings. Woodward was curious if the president had also employed the same attitude he practiced in the White House.

“So he’s in the Oval Office, someone sneezes, and he bails out. He goes running out,” Woodward said. “Last night in Nevada when he was going through that rally—I mean, God knows how many people there, all packed together. I wonder if someone sneezed in the front row that Trump would bail out again and get out of the way.”

Woodward shared his point of view that the president has indeed mishandled the coronavirus pandemic and that he failed the Americans. He also said that Trump’s actions during the past months would leave an unfavorable memory of his presidency.

“When the history books about this are written and it’s all put together, people are gonna be, and historians are gonna be, stunned at the failure… The basic failure to lead and say, ‘Hey, this is what’s going on, guys,’” the veteran journalist said.

Last week, Woodward publicized audio recordings from his series of interviews with Trump which he included in his new book titled ‘Rage.’

Source: AOL.com