Watergate journalist Bob Woodward’s new book, Rage, will hit bookshelves on September 14, but pre-released tapes have already caused quite a firestorm. With revelations that included Trump’s many lies on the COVID-19 crisis that has killed nearly 200,000 people, the book has not been a hit among the Trump camp.
“I say the president is the wrong man for the job.” Bob Woodward says he came to this conclusion “based on evidence, overwhelming evidence.” https://t.co/aDGioTLG22 pic.twitter.com/yTpZJdVnZk
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) September 13, 2020
On Sunday, the author sat for an interview with 60 Minutes and explained his decision to released those tapes, which include statements by Trump about how deadly it is and that it can kill children. Woodward said he first had to do months of fact-checking to determine whether anything Trump said, either in interviews or publicly, was true, but that once he did he knew he had to warn the public, a job that should have been the president’s.
‘This is the tragedy. the president of the United States has a duty to warn. The public will understand that. But if they get the feeling that they’re not getting the truth, then you’re going down the path of deceit and cover up.’
Bob Woodward says an hour and a half after he told President Trump that his new book would be tough on him, the president “tweeted out that the Bob Woodward book is going to be fake.” https://t.co/dFnYXQkgtk pic.twitter.com/gwcuJf8ohY
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) September 13, 2020
Woodward’s book, unlike most books written by news reporters, reaches a conclusion. Woodward defended his decision to take that path, and his conclusion is not kind to the president. Saying that Trump is simply not up to the job, Woodward says that statement is based on “overwhelming evidence.”
‘It’s a conclusion based on evidence, overwhelming evidence, that he could not rise to the occasion with the virus and tell the truth. And one of the things that President Trump told me, “In the presidency, there’s always dynamite behind the door.” The real dynamite is President Trump. He is the dynamite.’
Bob Woodward says that on January 28, National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien told President Trump that coronavirus “will be the biggest national security threat” of his presidency. https://t.co/TdjOvN9Nwy pic.twitter.com/O2UI0ErlcV
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) September 13, 2020
Woodward said that he had a conversation with Trump before the book’s release and that Trump initially took the news well that the book would be critical of him. Just over an hour later, Trump began tweeting that Woodward was writing a fake book.
‘It’s a tough book. There are going to be things that you are not gonna like, judgments that I made.” And he, at the end, said, “Well, I didn’t get you on this book. Maybe I’ll get you on the next one.”‘
“The title, “Rage,” comes from [President Trump.] He said he brings out rage in people. And he doesn’t know whether that’s a positive or a negative or a good thing or a bad thing,” says Bob Woodward about the title of his new book. https://t.co/AmxVsOTmV8 pic.twitter.com/2M2qEIapKO
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) September 13, 2020
