Journalist Bob Woodward said President Trump is “the wrong man for the job” after 18 interviews with the commander in chief for Woodward’s upcoming book, CNN reported Wednesday.
The two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist added this verdict at the end of his book “Rage,” a follow-up to his 2018 best-selling book “Fear” that is slated for release on Sep. 15.
Woodward on Wednesday released the tapes of his interviews with Trump. Portions of the audio were played by CNN, MSNBC and released on The Washington Post website, where Woodward is an associate editor.
The new book uses Woodward’s interviews with Trump dating back to December, with Trump admitting in one interview that he purposely downplayed the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak.
In a Feb. 7 interview, Trump called the virus “more deadly than even your strenuous flus.”
On March 19, Trump told Woodward, “I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.”
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White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a briefing Wednesday that Trump sat down with Woodward for multiple interviews despite a critical first book about his presidency from Woodward, with McEnany adding that Trump is “the most transparent president in history.”
Last month, Trump preemptively attacked Woodward’s upcoming book in a tweet, claiming it contains false information about his presidency.
“The Bob Woodward book will be a FAKE, as always, just as many of the others have been. But, believe it or not, lately I’ve been getting lots of GREAT books!” Trump tweeted, adding that “everybody does phony books on Donald Trump and Republicans.”
Woodward is set to appear on CBS’s “60 Minutes” Sunday night for his first interview about the forthcoming book.