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Woodward book: Trump says he knew coronavirus was ‘deadly’ and worse than the flu while intentionally misleading Americans
WAPO ^ | 9/9/2020 | Robert Costa and Philip Rucker

Posted on 09/09/2020 10:43:36 AM PDT by bitt

President Trump’s head popped up during his top-secret intelligence briefing in the Oval Office on Jan. 28 when the discussion turned to the coronavirus outbreak in China.

“This will be the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency,” national security adviser Robert C. O’Brien told Trump, according to a new book by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward. “This is going to be the roughest thing you face.”

Matthew Pottinger, the deputy national security adviser, agreed. He told the president that after reaching contacts in China, it was evident that the world faced a health emergency on par with the flu pandemic of 1918, which killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide.

Ten days later, Trump called Woodward and revealed that he thought the situation was far more dire than what he had been saying publicly.

“You just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed,” Trump said in a Feb. 7 call. “And so that’s a very tricky one. That’s a very delicate one. It’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flu.”

“This is deadly stuff,” the president repeated for emphasis.

LISTEN:

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: coronavirus; trump; woodward
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To: bitt

December 31: China reports the discovery of the coronavirus to the World Health Organization.

January 3: CDC Director Robert Redfield sent an email to the director of the Chinese CDC, George Gao, formally offering to send U.S. experts to China to investigate the coronavirus.

January 5: CDC Director Redfield sent another email to the Chinese CDC Director, George Gao, formally offering to send U.S. experts to China to investigate the coronavirus outbreak,

January 6: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a level I travel notice for Wuhan, China due to the spreading coronavirus.

January 7: The CDC established a coronavirus incident management system to better share and respond to information about the virus.

January 11: The CDC updated a Level 1 travel health notice for Wuhan, China.

January 17: The CDC began implementing public health entry screening at the 3 U.S. airports that received the most travelers from Wuhan – San Francisco, New York JFK, and Los Angeles.

January 20: Dr. Fauci announces the National Institutes of Health is already working on the development of a vaccine for the coronavirus.

January 21: The CDC activated its emergency operations center to provide ongoing support to the coronavirus response.

January 23: The CDC sought a “special emergency authorization” from the FDA to allow states to use its newly developed coronavirus test.

January 27: President Trump tweeted that he made an offer to President Xi Jinping to send experts to China to investigate the coronavirus outbreak.

January 27: The CDC issued a level III travel health notice urging Americans to avoid all nonessential travel to China due to the coronavirus.

January 27: The White House Coronavirus Task Force started meeting to help monitor and contain the spread of the virus and provide updates to the President.

January 29: The White House announced the formation of the Coronavirus Task Force to help monitor and contain the spread of the virus and provide updates to the President.

January 31: The Trump Administration:

Declared the coronavirus a public health emergency.

Announced Chinese travel restrictions.

Suspended entry into the United States for foreign nationals who pose a risk of transmitting the coronavirus.

January 31: The Department of Homeland Security took critical steps to funnel all flights from China into just 7 domestic U.S. airports.

February 3: The CDC had a team ready to travel to China to obtain critical information on the novel coronavirus, but were in the U.S. awaiting permission to enter by the Chinese government.

February 2: The CDC expanded enhanced entry screening to eight major airports across the nation.

February 4: President Trump vowed in his State of the Union Address to “take all necessary steps” to protect Americans from the coronavirus.

February 5: The Trump Administration and health officials briefed lawmakers on the Federal Government’s coronavirus response efforts.

February 6: The CDC began shipping CDC-Developed test kits for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus to U.S. and international labs.

February 7: President Trump told reporters that the CDC is working with China on the coronavirus.

February 9: The White House Coronavirus Task Force briefed governors from across the nation at the National Governors’ Association Meeting in Washington.

February 11: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) expanded a partnership with Janssen Research & Development to “expedite the development” of a coronavirus vaccine.

February 12: The U.S. shipped test kits for the 2019 novel coronavirus to approximately 30 countries who lacked the necessary reagents and other materials.

February 12: The CDC was prepared to travel to China but had yet to receive permission from the Chinese government.

February 14: The CDC began working with five labs to conduct “community-based influenza surveillance” to study and detect the spread of coronavirus.

February 18: HHS announced it would engage with Sanofi Pasteur in an effort to quickly develop a coronavirus vaccine and to develop treatment for coronavirus infections.

February 22: A WHO team of international experts arrives in Wuhan, China.

February 24: The Trump Administration sent a letter to Congress requesting at least $2.5 billion to help combat the spread of the coronavirus.

Febraury 25: HHS Secretary Azar testified before the Senate HELP committee on the Administration’s coronavirus response efforts.

February 26: President Trump discussed coronavirus containment efforts with Indian PM Modi and updated the press on his Administration’s containment efforts in the U.S. during his state visit to India.

February 29: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allowed certified labs to develop and begin testing coronavirus testing kits while reviewing pending applications.

February 29: The Trump Administration:

Announced a level 4 travel advisory to areas of Italy and South Korea.

Barred all travel to Iran.

Barred the entry of foreign citizens who visited Iran in the last 14 days.

March 3: The CDC lifted federal restrictions on coronavirus testing to allow any American to be tested for coronavirus, “subject to doctor’s orders.”

March 3: The White House announced President Trump donated his fourth quarter salary to fight the coronavirus.


101 posted on 09/09/2020 11:56:27 AM PDT by elpadre
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To: guido911

Why, yes. Veterans of idiocy.


102 posted on 09/09/2020 11:56:41 AM PDT by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp???)
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To: bitt

More of the stuff you do when you’ve got nothing.

“Trump said something”, Chapter No. 4,367.


103 posted on 09/09/2020 12:00:11 PM PDT by SaxxonWoods (Prediction: G. Maxwell will surprise everyone by not dying anytime soon.)
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To: bitt

Military dissing lie didn’t work. Trying something new. This’ll fail, and there will be another one.

I predicted they would be paying off one of their HOs in waiting, and give her the go-ahead to spill her made up story to an eager media. Two months left.


104 posted on 09/09/2020 12:06:11 PM PDT by I want the USA back (First debate Sept 29, 9 PM, New York time. Watch Trump knock biden out in the first round.)
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To: MplsSteve
I’m certainly not saying that trump did but I really really hope he didn’t have any kind of phone conversation with a guy like bob Woodward. Nothing good can come from a call like that.

Um, you do realize that there are reportedly NINE HOURS of taped conversations?

There are already excerpts from the tapes that have been released. And unfortunately, Trump DID SAY what Woodward is alleging he said.

We need to quit downplaying everything that we disagree with or don't like hearing. This makes "grab 'em by the p*ssy" look like a minor infraction by comparison. He admits, in his own voice and in his own words ON TAPE, that he knew very early on (Jan/early Feb) what the risk was (it's airborne, doesn't affect "just the elderly", is >5X more deadly than the flu, etc) and chose to "downplay" it vs. being straight with the American people so that they could be informed and act accordingly. And with 6.3M+ cases and 190,000 deaths, the left and the MSM (albeit the same thing) will hang him with it - and it's going to be really, REALLY difficult for that not to stick all the way through the election.

I know many Freepers will disagree, but this is a big freaking deal, and outside of FR will have a massively huge impact on the election - and one that's not in our favor..

PS - anyone who cares to can easily go listen to the excerpts of Trump talking to Woodward. It's incomprehensible that he chose not only to talk to him, but to say what he did say. UGH!

105 posted on 09/09/2020 12:06:43 PM PDT by jstolzen
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To: bitt

Great, and fair, response by Tyler.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/while-fauci-who-and-pelosi-downplayed-covid-trump-knew-it-was-deadly-restricting-china


106 posted on 09/09/2020 12:12:26 PM PDT by mrsmith (`(US MEDIA: " Every 'White' cop is a criminal! And all the 'non-white' criminals saints!")
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To: jstolzen; MplsSteve; Sarah Barracuda; elpadre; bitt; All
We need to quit downplaying everything that we disagree with or don't like hearing. This makes "grab 'em by the p*ssy" look like a minor infraction by comparison.

Hmmm....second time I've seen this exact example used against POTUS, today, here on FR.

🤔

107 posted on 09/09/2020 12:18:15 PM PDT by Jane Long (Praise God, from whom ALL blessings flow.)
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To: bitt

Lies.


108 posted on 09/09/2020 12:31:45 PM PDT by funfan
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To: Jane Long

Not sure I follow..it’s just a point of comparison to the last time we thought that we couldn’t have got hit any harder or with something more damning and potentially fatal to the campaign.

This is easily many times worse, IMHO.


109 posted on 09/09/2020 12:35:03 PM PDT by jstolzen
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To: bitt

Interview was 2/7 and Trump stopped flights 1/31.
BTW looking back to 2/1 and coming back to RAL from LAX my wife and I couldn’t understand why some asians we saw at the airport were wearing N95 masks.
On 3/13 when I was told to go home and work from there we finally understood.
Now I’m wondering if we’ve all been had as I still to this day only know 1 person who has had it.


110 posted on 09/09/2020 12:38:24 PM PDT by Harpotoo (Being a socialist is a lot easier than having to WORK like the rest of US:-))
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To: guido911

Trump’s divine mission started when he announced his candidacy.


111 posted on 09/09/2020 12:48:48 PM PDT by GodAndCountryFirst
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To: bitt

Of course, BobIdiot, of course......*yawn*


112 posted on 09/09/2020 12:56:08 PM PDT by cranked
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To: bitt

Yes it is and Biden today used this in his speech just like he did with the false veteran smear. I bet there is an ad out on this too. This is what they are doing now it’s obvious.

Here is some of the stuff Biden said in Michigan today from Twitter:
https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1303757969486761986


113 posted on 09/09/2020 1:00:15 PM PDT by funfan
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To: bitt

Woodward says nothing about the Obama administration weaponizing the alphabet agencies to spy on the opposition’s campaign, lied to courts, lied to investigators, altered documents, etc etc.

Mr “Bigger than Watergate” certainly doesn’t care about political scandals when Democrats do them.


114 posted on 09/09/2020 1:00:56 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (Joe Biden- "First thing I'd do is repeal those Trump tax cuts." (May 4th, 2019))
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To: mass55th

This is a coordinated attack the writers will say it happened immediate Biden goes out and talks about it like he did today and he will most likely run an ad on it too. All made up crap.

Biden from today in Michigan:

https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1303757969486761986


115 posted on 09/09/2020 1:03:37 PM PDT by funfan
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To: Flick Lives

FAUCI ON FOX NOW:

DEBUNKS the entire narrative!

Flatly DENIES quotes attributed to him.

Said Trump relayed the information they discussed in the Task Force Meeting accurately.


116 posted on 09/09/2020 1:09:33 PM PDT by LeonardFMason
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To: jstolzen

it is beyond belief that Trump or anyone to the right of Obama would ever talk to Woodward . Maybe he hoped tapes would prevent being misquoted. But this is disastrous. He is on record as lying to the American people about the virus. And all the justified attacks on Cuomo and every other Dem who screwed the pooch cannot cover for this. His ego may have tossed t by e election to the Dems and consigned the Republic to a Marxist future and or Civil War.


117 posted on 09/09/2020 1:49:58 PM PDT by xkaydet65
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To: bitt

Thank God, Trump downplayed The China Virus (I don’t think he did) or else there’d be businesses shuttered and a toilet paper shortage.


118 posted on 09/09/2020 1:56:11 PM PDT by SantosLHalper (Eat some bacon.No, I got no idea if it'll make you feel better, I just made too much bacon.")
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To: Jane Long

And how does the use of that example mitigate Trump’s own words about the pandemic. And how does it explain his willingness to speak with Woodward. As addled as Biden is and he is in the grip of dementia, do you seriously think he would need someone to tell him it’s not a good idea to talk to Sean Hannity or even Victor Davis Hanson for nine hours. Clearly President Trump thought talking with Woodward was a good idea.


119 posted on 09/09/2020 1:57:23 PM PDT by xkaydet65
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To: guido911

“Why does a guy that spends as much time talking about “fake news” give interviews to a blatant partisan such as Bob Woodward?”

I agree. Giving Woodward an interview is like FDR giving an interview to Joseph Goebbels during the war.


120 posted on 09/09/2020 2:08:17 PM PDT by lowbridge
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