BREAKING: CNN obtains Woodward book and interview tapes; Trump admits misleading public on virus

[Calthrina950]

Local Trump supporters are calling this "fake news." When presented with the transcript, they either ignore it or switch to "he was protecting us."

As for why calling this out six months ago would have made a difference, it would have killed the "it's a hoax" weed in its infancy instead of letting it grow and spread as it has. The longer someone has held a belief, the more difficult it is to change. Less spread also means less people even hearing the rumors that it's fake, etc etc. It also would have given those calling Trump out on his lies something easy to point to instead of having to use data that is waved away as "fake news."

This absolutely would not have killed the "it's a hoax" conspiracy. We're talking about a portion of the population that probably also believes in nonsense like QAnon as well as the "plandemic".

These people have long since conditioned themselves to believe that Trump is strategically playing the media when he says things they disagree with, hence the "That's his opinion" from the soon-to-die-of-COVID guy at the rally. That's why racists and neonazis don't mind when Trump says things like, "I love hispanics." As dumb as these people are, they're still smart enough to understand that Trump has to put on a face and avoid embracing certain tenets of Trumpism.

And Trump has dogwhistled to these elements of his base from time to time-i.e. his infamous comments that there were "good people on both sides" in Charlottesville. He had nothing but positive things to say about QAnon adherents, and has generally avoided making strong attacks against demagogues and racists of various types. So they know, from these indications that he's provided, from his policy moves on issues like immigration, and from his association with the likes of Stephen Miller and Tom Cotton, among others, that he's on their side, and thus fully support him. Moreover, the RNC's recent "trotting out" of blacks such as Herschel Walker, Tim Scott, Kimberly Klacik, and Vernon Jones has been described by some as a strategy of Trump and the Republicans to uphold ideals of white dominance-a strategy which has been employed throughout American history.

Yes, exactly! This has been a white-supremacist strategy for a long, long time now. Even in the infamous film, The Birth of a Nation, the white plantation family has the support of former slaves referred to as "The faithful souls" that don't want to be free. It always makes me cringe when conservatives act like having Candace Owens say she's opposed to police reform somehow means that the right wing isn't racist anymore.

Agreed. I didn't want to use the phrase at first, but I'll use it now. I'm sure you're aware of the pejorative "Uncle Tom", used to describe a black person who sells out his people for the benefit of whites. That pejorative has been applied to the blacks who spoke at the RNC-including Daniel Cameron, who I forgot to mention in my earlier post. Candace Owens and Diamond & Silk could be described as "Aunt Jemimas", the female equivalent of that term. And what's funny about Candace Owens is that she was originally a liberal Democrat, from what I understand-and shifted her views to garner publicity and financial benefit for herself. That's the very definition of "Uncle Tomism".

[ProudModerate2]

Here's why I think, if the tape had come out 6 months ago, it probably wouldn't have made much difference in Trump supporters' behavior:

https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1304395448229212160

A lot of potential Darwin award winners in these Trump rallies.

Just listening to them, makes you want to vomit.
trump put this "ignorance" in their head, and now an increase of people are dying because of it.
I honestly believe trump is killing people, and he should be punished by our courts after he exits the presidency.

[Badger]

The notion that he didn’t take the virus serious is incorrect. His actions show that he took it serious (eg banning travel from China early)

Lmaoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[Badger]

The notion that he didn’t take the virus serious is incorrect. His actions show that he took it serious (eg banning travel from China early)

Lmaoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Lmaoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo @ this

Flashback: Joe Biden Calls Trump’s China Travel Restrictions ‘Hysterical Xenophobia’

https://grabien.com/story.php?id=278449

What a culty cult answer. Cultist got a cult.

Beats actually thinking.

Seriously, how Craven does one have to be when it is screaming in your face to still defend this man with such knee-jerk unthinking childlike responses.

[Badger]

Yet another fabricated story that won't do much harm.

Cowering craving cultists.

I want the answer to be 5, so two plus two equals four is fake news!!

[Badger]

OMFG! This makes it official. Trump supporters are delusional pinheads. Literally almost without exception.

[Koharu]

If you are a reporter and have proof the president is lying to the public, especially a tape, you share that with the public as soon as is humanly possible.

Would it have totally killed the conspiracy theories? No. I do believe it would have stopped the disbelief of doctors on this issue from becoming anywhere near as big as it currently is. But even if it didn't change any minds at all, it doesn't excuse Woodward not bringing this forward, especially as soon as Trump spoke publicly to the contrary of the tape.

Impeachment wrapped up February 5. Irrefutable proof that Trump was lying to the public in the immediate aftermath of that would have had a huge impact, forcing Republican Senators to justify their votes. Even if you don't think that would have happened, how can you say it's acceptable for a journalist to not immediately alert the people when they have hard evidence of presidential misconduct?

Yes, Trump has always been a liatr. But this tape, since it can be played and directly compared to his statements at the time, is shaking his foundation with some of the people who are not in this cult of personality. But now we're moving into the election and people are focused on that. Six months ago, we would have had all this time to stew on the fact that Trump was lying. He also would be more likely to be called out on any other lies he made about the virus.

We can't ever know what might have been, and it's not worth spending time wondering what that alternate universe is like, but even in this universe it is completely unacceptable for a journalist to wait six months to share hard proof that the president is lying to the people about a public health issue.

[Ancestral Republican]

Yet another fabricated story that won't do much harm.

Cowering craving cultists.

I want the answer to be 5, so two plus two equals four is fake news!!

It's literally on tape, how on earth could it be a fabrication?

[President Johnson]

Yet another fabricated story that won't do much harm.

Cowering craving cultists.

I want the answer to be 5, so two plus two equals four is fake news!!

It's literally on tape, how on earth could it be a fabrication?

EVERYTHING that lets their God Emperor look bad is a fabrication. This post is the ultimate proof it's a cult.

[Badger]

Yet another fabricated story that won't do much harm.

Cowering craving cultists.

I want the answer to be 5, so two plus two equals four is fake news!!

It's literally on tape, how on earth could it be a fabrication?

See my prior answers. Actual facts and rationality have zero to do with political discourse anymore for the 45% of American voters who support Trump.

[Badger]

BTW, if Obama had done this chapter number 6987.

[Arizona Iced Tea]

Already out of the news cycle, that was quick!

[musicblind]

Does this still matter?

I was hoping this would still matter.

[Badger]

Does this still matter?

I was hoping this would still matter.

Nothing matters but power to Trump supporters.

[emailking]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1308008758031904768

[Ferguson97]

Already out of the news cycle, that was quick!

That’s more of an indication of how much our media sucks rather than the importance of the tapes

[Joe Republic]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1308008758031904768

Beginning in a few years and ongoing for likely the next few centuries (unless the republic collapses well before then of course), as Donald Trump is consistently ranked at the bottom of all POTUSes, the existence of books like this one will make for a particularly fascinating historical analysis.