Better than anyone · First term · № 35
Doctors ask how he knows so much about the virus; 'maybe I have a natural ability'
“Every one of these doctors said, 'How do you know so much about this?' Maybe I have a natural ability.”
- Said
- , Remarks after touring the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta
- Subject
- the coronavirus
- Topic
- COVID-19
- Era
- First term
What the record showed
At the same CDC visit he said, 'I like this stuff. I really get it. People are surprised that I understand it.' Recorded interviews with Bob Woodward later showed that on February 7, 2020 he had privately called the virus 'deadly stuff' and 'more deadly than even your strenuous flu,' and on March 19, 2020 said, 'I wanted to always play it down.' By the time those tapes were published on September 9, 2020, more than 190,000 Americans had died of COVID-19.
Sources
- Remarks by President Trump After Tour of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- 'Maybe I have a natural ability': Trump plays medical expert on coronavirus by second-guessing the professionals
- Trump told Bob Woodward he knew in February that COVID-19 was 'deadly stuff' but wanted to 'play it down'