Unbelievable: Trump says Woodward should have warned the "authorities" the pandemic was serious

[Mrs. Overall]

Link to tweet

Peter Alexander
@PeterAlexander

Trump: "If Bob Woodward thought what I said was bad then he should have immediately, right after I said it, gone out to the authorities so they can prepare..."

@PhilipRucker: "Bob Woodward is not the president."

[uponit7771]

1. K&R, ...and now Republican defense of Trump is "...we all knew..." (link) which is false on its face

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100214054633

[crimycarny]

4. Yep, so you gonna delete your posts?

You told me I had to delete mine where I showed a timeline of who knew what when. You told me I had to delete it because “RWTP” weren’t allowed. All your posts were bashing Woodward for not releasing the tapes. Isn’t that now a RWTP?

[uponit7771]

6. lol ... no, " ... we all [DID NOT] know..." that's the republican defense and a deflection of my

... point on Woodward

[crimycarny]

9. You said Bob Woodward should have immediately released the tapes

So I guess you’re in agreement with Trump?

[uponit7771]

13. This is false on its face, good try ... you'll link a quote and it'll be nothing like your post here

... cause I knew this rabbit hole already :rolleyes:

[crimycarny]

19. Too many to post

Go back and look at your own but here’s one:


48. The average human doesn't closely lurk international news sources and yes, I know they would've ...

.... believed Trumps own words on tape that the virus was a killer, deadly and airborne.

That would've made so much a difference ... just damn

[uponit7771]

20. like I said .. BEFORE .. you posted that post is little to NOTHING like you claimed I said ... ok,

[ace3csusm]

2. For those claiming Bob should have alerted everyone earlier

that he is also responsible, you have now made it the turds talking point ... this is how we lose the election DUers are now being split i have seen countless post blame Woodward...Wake up

[crimycarny]

7. Exactly

Yep. The righteous outrage is always our downfall... Better to be righteous than practical.

[uponit7771]

22. So Trump reads DU or people who know republicans can predict the lies from them?

[Tribetime]

33. I expect that from Trump I didn't expect that from Woodward people died because of it

Trump still going to be held the hundred percent accountable for it it's not going to make a difference that way but people's lives could have been saved

[Skittles]

39. OMFG

PEOPLE ARE DYING, THIS IS ABOUT MORE THAN THE ELECTION

[Bucky]

45. Thank you

Having this information out sooner would have given us more time to weaken Trump's position among the faltering Republican moderates and old line conservatives.

Only a fool would argue that Biden and the DNC have already maxed out on the number of Republicans they can get to jump off the Trump ship. Knowing this earlier would have helped our side... Although again, the lives are more important than the politics.

The people that Trump was straight up lying to needed to know and deserved to know sooner that he admitted to his lies on tape.

[Skittles]

47. absolutely correct

I am sickened by the "later was better for our election chances" crowd.

[EndlessWire]

3. "The authorities" ????

Who's he, then??

[GopherGal]

24. In Woodward's Defense

... he was on the phone with the authorities immediately upon learning of the danger

[Bucky]

48. I didn't know that. Can you tell me what authorities he told?

Thank you in advance. I'm always eager to learn more about the situation.

[ahoysrcsm]

55. It's Trump.

The "authorities" he was on the phone with was Trump. The buck stops where?

[Volaris]

27. Not Responsible (remember?)

[EndlessWire]

54. Oh, yeah, I forgot. n/t

[LisaL]

5. What authorities? Haven't Trump corrupted them all?

NT

[regnaD kciN]

8. Not "unbelievable" at all...

With Trump able to use “news conferences” to present his spin on national television without any opposing viewpoint, this will rapidly become the official narrative. Look for the story to be totally forgotten by Monday at the latest.

[Thomas Hurt]

10. That's right Your Honor, I am not to blame for robbing that bank...

the guy who saw me enter the bank with a handgun and mask in my hand, didn't call the cops.

[In It to Win It]

11. Trump is the President. If the President isn't the authorities... who is?

The highest person in the chain that you can possibly tell already knows.

[LisaL]

14. I guess he doesn't think he is the real president, he thinks he plays one on TV.

NT

[yardwork]

28. Very telling comment by Trump, isn't it?

[Caliman73]

31. Not really. He doesn't think ahead.

Trump was deflecting based on talking points he heard and on what he thinks will get him off the hook in the moment. Trump's words very rarely have any deeper meaning except to posterity and other people's interpretations. I think that when we interpret them with more sophisticated or nuanced takes, we give Trump way more credit than he deserves. Trump has been largely successful at avoiding consequences because he has enough money and enough enablers who are typically hanging around for the money or who are using him, that they keep him afloat. Left to his own devices or without the wealth he inherited, he would have been in prison or dead long ago.

[still_one]

12. and Dana Bash said "he is the authority"

[Blue Owl]

15. Trump is mentally unfit to resume his "duties" in the White House

Haul him off to the padded room...

[EarlG]

16. Insane

He’s insane. Completely unfit for office.

That is all.

[jpak]

17. Umm...Trumpo you are the "authorities "

You stupid fuck

[Blue_true]

35. Understatement of the year.

The Buck never stops at that clown. He will blame anyone but the obvious one, himself.

[Mariana]

18. "I don't take responsibility at all." nt.

[Cha]

21. trump's just pissed he spilled the BEANS to

Bob.

First the non leader trump should NOT have LIED to the American People & tried to Blame it on a "democrat hoax".

& yeah Bob should have reported it. That's what many would I done I bet.

[crimycarny]

23. And now we're off to the races--blaming Woodward

Link to tweet

?s=20

We just make it too easy for the right. With our constant need to be righteous over focused.

Edited to add: I don’t think any of this will “stick” except with Trump’s loyal base (who will never leave him).

[ace3csusm]

26. We just make it too easy for the right. With our constant need to be righteous over focused.

So True even here we are starting to split , we need focus over anything else ... dont lose sight of the target ...

[crimycarny]

29. Yep--that's the downside of being a large tent and very intelligent to boot

I don’t spend a lot of time on right wing sites, but from time to time I’ll venture over. Comments are always lockstep in line and you certainly don’t see any discussions wander off into philosophical debates.

I did see one dissenting opinion on a right wing site that stuck with me. It was after Obama went to the GOP retreat and answered almost 2 hours of questions, on camera. Obama made the GOP look like fools. It was so bad that FOX News cut away before it was over. Comments on redstate.com were attacking Obama but one lone commenter said “can we all at least admit now that Obama doesn’t need a teleprompter.”. Lol.

[Caliman73]

32. It isn't even righteousness though. It is just blaming.

Woodward had no real idea if what Trump was saying to him was true. Trump had all the information and all the power in that interview. Woodward could have leaked the tape to the media but then what? Has the media stopped Trump at all in his plans? Would the media have made Trump do what was needed to deal with the pandemic? The media? OR what other "authorities" could Woodward have gone to? Fauci? He already knew and was doing what he could to manage the buffoon Trump in this disaster. Health and Human Services? They knew but Trump's lackeys were running it. The Justice Department? Barr is as bad or worse than Trump. Congress? They also knew and were stamping their feet in the House and dragging their feet in the Senate.

Woodward may care some personal guilt, but he had ZERO authority regarding this situation and little to no causal guilt in the situation we are in today. Did the Pentagon papers stop the Vietnam War? They came out in 1971 and the war did not end until 1975. While the papers were important in supporting the anti-war movement, the leak did not have immediate and significant impact, and this was with a press that was WAY more inclined to hold leaders accountable. Woodward leaking earlier would have been spun like they are trying now, but with more people paying attention to the election now, it has more impact on people who have been sleeping through our situation.

[crimycarny]

42. You make a great point

“Woodward had no real idea if what Trump was saying to him was true.”

That right there Is key. So many bashing Woodward are doing so based on how things are NOW. Back then we had very few cases, not many would have believed Woodward anyway. Or, even if they did, would assume the US had it under control.

Totally agree with everything you are saying.

[Bucky]

50. No one is blaming Woodward. That's a red herring argument

Obviously Trump is to blame for the lies.

Woodward is to blame for sitting on that information when it could have saved people from becoming sick. Maybe most would not have altered their behavior but some people would have started wearing masks.

We can't know the number. But people deserved to be warned when new evidence came to light that they're being lied to. Woodward was wrong and sheltering the public, and Trump's Republican enablers, from having that uncomfortable conversation over this deadly summer.

[C_U_L8R]

25. The idiot in the Oval Office is playing a high stakes game

... of "I know you are, but what am I"

[leftyladyfrommo]

30. The authorities all already knew. Everyone knew.

You forced them to downplay it.

[Dorian Gray]

34. As President isn't he the ultimate authority?

what a dumb fuck.

[Blue_true]

36. He is desperately trying not to shoulder any blame.

What a useless prick.

[dalton99a]

37. China warned American authorities:

On Jan. 3, Dr. Gao Fu, head of China’s disease control agency, informed his U.S. counterpart, Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the CDC, in an emotional telephone call that the outbreak was growing out of control, according to the same federal official and a former NSC official. Both said they had been informed of the details.

The CDC, a part of HHS, confirmed to Reuters that it learned of an outbreak in late December and that the call with Gao occurred Jan. 3.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-nsc/as-trump-administration-debated-travel-restrictions-thousands-streamed-in-from-china-idUSKBN21N0EJ

[LisaL]

38. So CDC knew full well.

Early on. Yet we were told to not wear masks.

[dalton99a]

40. Yep, the Trump administration was well informed

[LisaL]

41. But some are insisting on blaming a reporter on not revealing it sooner.

As if it were some top secret.

[Bucky]

44. Trump admitting that he was not doing his job was a secret

Only Bob Woodward knew.

No one is "blaming" Woodward for Trump's criminal performance in office, so you need to quit making that stupid non-argument.

You sound like my Republican coworker who accused me of saying Trump was to blame for the virus. If you're reduced to arguing with red herrings, it means you don't really have an argument.

[LisaL]

46. And until Bob told you, you really believed Trump was doing his job?

All righty then.

[Bucky]

51. Again with the red herring arguments

No one on this website thought Trump was doing his job.

But the stacks and stacks of Republican office holders who are endorsing Biden tells me it's possible to bleed support off of this fascist.

Withholding the single most damning piece of evidence all through the spring and summer saved a lot of Republican governors from having a lot of uncomfortable conversations while they were pandering to the anti-mask idiots.

But if you can't make an argument without dumbing down other people's points (that's commiting the straw man fallacy by the way) then you probably don't have a serious argument to make.

[LisaL]

52. Do you really think other people in power didn't have that information?

You think CDC didn't know?
Again, why do you blame a reporter for something that was likely known to many?

[Bucky]

53. I know they did. But they're not Bob Woodward either

I'm not finding your what-about-ism anymore convincing than the red herrings.

Honestly, is your intent to cycle through all the logical fallacies?

I'm mad at everybody who has been enabling this country to have the pandemic six times worse than the world average. It would be childish of me to think solely Trump is to blame for this. It's possible to be angry at more than one bad actor in this continental travesty.

[uponit7771]

57. +1, I tried to say this very thing in an OP the other day folk weren't happy. You said it better

Last edited Fri Sep 11, 2020, 09:10 AM - Edit history (1)

[Bucky]

59. My favorite is the "You're shooting the messenger" complaint

I mean, they're literally getting mad at me for telling them something, but somehow I'm shooting the messenger.

Some folks are so wrapped up in this oppositional mentality that the idea that I can be and pissed at Woodward and still more pissed at Trump at the same time is outside their understanding.

[uponit7771]

61. +1, mine is "Trump is using DU's excuse" as if 1. Trump can read what's on DU, 2. no one can see

... Trump stupid assed excuses from a mile away and we can't get in front of them.

I still want congress to impeach him for this and make those senators who's seats are on the block defend this shit

[ahoysrcsm]

62. I think its the other way around...

Certain posters on DU parroting the Trump statement that Woodward is to blame.

The blame lays squarely at the feet of the GOP by NOT removing Trump during the impeachment. Without that, Trump Pence and the GOP executive branch are to blame for the failure to respond to the pandemic.

A second impeachment will not happen. Speaker Pelosi had sped up the first impeachment, so it would not interfere in the election.

This does however make for good questions during the upcoming debate, that is, if the press will follow through. Their failure to hold Trump and the GOP accountable is staggering.

[LanternWaste]

49. Blaming Woodward for Trump as you restated? No. Blaming him for not releasing it? Yes.

Her statement was thus, accurate and valid, and is not, in fact, a non-argument... regardless of the irrelevant petulance of fictional friends and co-workers we mayo r may not allegedly "sound like"

[uponit7771]

56. +1

[Bucky]

43. Donald Trump is a walking self-own

He's a senile lunatic who attacks Joe Biden for being old

He's a traitor who wraps himself in the flag

He openly wacks off about what a genius when he can barely form a complete sentence

He's a rapist / serial adulterer who crows about the Bible he's never read

He squawks about family values while groping his daughter and locking children up in cages

He ran at least half a dozen major businesses into the ground and then got "elected" president by claiming he would "run the government like a business" --- which, to his credit is the one campaign promise he kept

Nothing about that man surprises me.

[raccoon]

58. Trump's the one who should have "gone to the authorities

So they can prepare”

That idiot wouldn’t be accountable for wiping his own ass.

[cwydro]

60. Several here saying the same.

Kind of tragic watching the agreement with the buffoon taking place here.