Recordings in the early days of the pandemic have revealed President Donald Trump knew COVID-19 was a dangerous airborne virus that was “more deadly than even your strenuous flus” – but he wanted to “play it down” in order to avoid panic.
“This is more deadly,” President Trump said on 7 February.
“This is five per cent versus one per cent and less than one per cent.”
On 19 March, President Trump said “I wanted to always play it down, I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic”.
President Trump made the remarks about the coronavirus pandemic in recorded phone interviews with the Washington Post's Bob Woodward.
Rival presidential nominee Joe Biden has since been accused President Trump of misleading the public and costing thousands of American lives by downplaying the threat COVID-19 posed.
Defending his actions in a White House briefing, President Trump again reiterated he didn’t want to create panic or whip up a frenzy.
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