Didn't we all know that Trump knew about the virus

[leftyladyfrommo]

but lied about it for political reasons?

This was not new information.

Woodward had it on tape but everyone knew that Trump just ignored the information.

[LizBeth]

1. Correct. And spent 6 months arguing with family and friends, Trumps lies.

[bamagal62]

17. Yes. I started wearing a mask right away

And I went the hardware store (yep, they still had them) and bought masks to send to family members. Even my husband thought I was overreacting. So, I imagine most people knew. Heck, the Czech Republic had public service announcements on their TVs telling everyone to wear a mask while we sat here with our thumbs up our @$$.

[Mike 03]

2. Yes. All of it.

In fact, we were discussing the possibility this virus was airborne long before it was established in the US media, because studies out of China (and then Italy) indicated as much. In Wuhan, as others have pointed out, they sprayed disinfectant into the air.

Four months before our media routinely explained to us that COVID-19 was airborne, there was this study (March 9) that a few outlets covered, stating that the novel coronavirus could survive in air for (at least) three hours.


Aerosol and surface stability of HCoV-19 (SARS-CoV-2) compared to SARS-CoV-1

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.09.20033217v1.full.pdf

[LizBeth]

3. +1

[Nevilledog]

4. I thought it was a combination of knowing and stupidity.

The whole "if you stop testing, the cases go down" shit he's argued for months.

[dchill]

5. I've been calling him a mass murderer for months.

[Kota]

6. We did, but i don't think his supporters did.

[LisaL]

8. And now that they do, do you expect them to change?

NT

[Kota]

11. Maybe some, keep piling it on. I think the military things coming to light are more believable

now that these claims have him on tape.

[TreasonousBastard]

7. Of course. By now most of us just assume he's full of shit and just ignore him. But, not...

enough of us.

The easy thing is to blame Woodward for for not telling us what Trump told him, but that's simply enabling Trump and justifying his bullshit.

Since Trump full of shit is his normal state, Woodward had to take the time to make sure what Trump told him was not just another crock before telling the rest of us what we already knew or suspected.

[lagomorph777]

18. Woodward didn't need 6 months to investigate. He knew that Turd was saying opposite things.

Therefore, automatically, at least one of those things is a lie.

[TreasonousBastard]

23. Knowing and proving are two completely different things, so...

First-- how do you know how much time he needed to verify what Trump said?

Then-- why do you care?

Questioning the messenger when the message is the important thing is what the opposition specializes at. We should avoid that unless absolutely necessary.

[lagomorph777]

25. I actually believe this has maximum impact now, versus earlier.

I grieve for the 200,000 souls who Trump has martyred. I don't think Woodward could have saved many of them. I just don't agree with the logic of claiming that any investigation is needed to confirm that Turd was lying. You play the interview tapes and the press conference tapes side by side. Done. Lie is proven.

So I might question Woodward's ethics, but I don't question his calculation. Doing maximum damage to Turd a few weeks out from the election is even more valuable than whatever brief impact the story might have had back in February. Even when you factor in the 200,000 murdered people. Turd will murder millions if he stays in power.

[fescuerescue]

24. Even his supporters do that!

I can't tell you how many Trump supporters have told me that they really don't pay attention to what he says.

Truly I think Dems pay more attention to what he says than his own base.

[GusBob]

9. Then why did so many people die

[Laelth]

10. The fact that we have it on tape makes all the difference. n/t

-Laelth

[lagomorph777]

19. +1 It's now a TV-friendly story.

[hamsterjill]

12. Most definitely.

We were discussing the virus on DU in December and probably earlier.

But the tapes should (note the use of the word “should”) make even the most ardent Trump supporters understand that he knew and he lied.

But “should” hasn’t happened because his base is ignorant. We must out vote these ignorants.

[Dream Girl]

13. Yes we knew.

[H2O Man]

14. Recommended.

That is a valid point. An important point. Yet, one can think that Woodward had an obligation as a human being -- assuming one thinks Bob is indeed human -- to release the tapes earlier to document that Trump was engaged in a self-serving series of lies to the American public, that put our health at a much higher risk. However, I would hesitate to say that had he done so, it would have resulted in beneficial changes -- for, exactly as you note, we knew Trump was lying.

[liberalmuse]

15. You are correct.

We knew. It's just weird that he is stupid enough to admit it on tape. We knew he was an egregious liar, but just seeing how egregious is a bit mind blowing. I don't think I've ever witnessed this kind of evil in a position of power in the US in my lifetime. Sure, Republicans have propped up people who have come close, but Trump is the embodiment of the 7 deadly sins packed in ridiculous clown suit.

[RussBLib]

16. We suspected it. We didn't know it.

Woodward adds the dimension of purposeful deceit. As far as reality goes, we could not prove he was lying. After all, he's "stupid". But now, all of his followers appear extra stupid for believing him in the first place.

All those rallies.... No social distancing, no masks, and he knew all along how easy it was to transmit. If I were a trumper, I think I would be a little upset.

[leftyladyfrommo]

20. It's just fake news. The tape was edited. Ya da ya da

[poli-junkie]

21. Maddow or somebody else needs to do a timeline

starting with when the Obama pandemic response team/program was dismantled; to when the national PPE & respirator supply was depleted & either sold off or in exchange for foreign favors; to when intelligence sources raised concern in Asia as early as November 2019; to when cases erupted in Wuhan; to when cases appeared in Santa Clara County (way earlier than WA state); to when cases appeared in Iran and Italy; to when cases erupted in WA state; to when air travelers from 1 airplane from Asia were allowed entry into the US, in the dead of night, on the west coast (because they had Republican contacts) with health monitors flown in from the east coast to “monitor” the health of these well-connected travelers, then allowing these travelers to disperse into our country; to sudden uptick of cases in WA state nursing homes & surrounding areas; to cases appearing in New Rochelle, NY due to a single traveler from Europe; to big case spread & deaths in NY city; to TRUMP admin / Jared hoarding PPE & respirators; to slow walking responses to affected blue states; to TRUMP bullshitting his way through his inane Covid news conferences; etc. etc.

[fescuerescue]

22. Well I knew about it. Why wouldn't Trump?

My doctor and I were discussing it in January.