Bob Woodward was stunned by what Trump told young son Barron about the coronavirus

Watergate reporter Bob Woodward on Monday recalled a comment by former President Donald Trump that left him “as dumbfounded as I’ve ever been as a reporter.”

On Monday’s “CNN Tonight” show, Woodward shared audio of Trump telling him – in interviews he recorded for his 2020 book “Rage” which has now been published separately as of “The Trump Tapes” – what he said to his young son Barron Trump during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump, speaking to Woodward on March 19, 2020, said Barron (then 13) asked him what was going on and he replied:

“I said he was from China, Barron. Pure and simple. He came out of China. And it should have been stopped. And to be honest with you, Barron, they should have made it known that this was a problem two months ago… the world wouldn’t have a problem. We could have stopped him easily.

“CNN Tonight” host Jake Tapper acknowledged that the Chinese government was blamed for covering up the initial spread of COVID-19. But he reminded viewers how Trump himself was warned of its potential dangers – and chose to do nothing about it.

At the time of taping this particular interview with Trump, Woodward said he had no idea what warning the then-president received from his own national security advisers about the virus.

When Woodward learned of the warning, he said he listened to the tape again and concluded, “My God, Trump is not only cheating on me, but on his son and he’s like, ‘Oh, that could have been fixed. , the Chinese could have done ‘. something about this. Donald Trump could have done something about this by being honest and warning the public that as President he has a constitutional and moral responsibility to do so .

Watch the interview here: