Rep. Ted Lieu, California Democrat, accused President Trump of “reckless homicide” Wednesday over revelations about how he described the novel coronavirus to reporter Bob Woodward in February.
The congressman made the charge on Twitter after it emerged that Mr. Trump told Mr. Woodward early in the pandemic that he knew the coronavirus was more dangerous that he publicly described it.
“I’ve concluded this is not just dereliction of duty,” Mr. Lieu reacted. “Trump repeatedly lied to the American people and that resulted in preventable deaths. This is reckless homicide.”
Mr. Lieu, a frequent critic of the president, was reacting to an article published by The Washington Post earlier Wednesday containing excerpts and audio from Mr. Woodward’s forthcoming book.
“You just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed,” Mr. Trump said about COVID-19, the contagious disease the coronavirus causes, during a recorded conversation with Mr. Woodward on Feb. 7.
“It’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flu,” Mr. Trump told the journalist. “This is deadly stuff.”
Mr. Trump was publicly comparing COVID-19 to the common flu at that time, however, and he continued to do so as the outbreak reached pandemic proportions in the weeks that followed.
“I wanted to always play it down,” Mr. Trump told Mr. Woodward March 19, it emerged Wednesday. “I still like playing it down because I don’t want to create a panic.”
Mr. Trump reiterated that explanation when pressed about the revelations later Wednesday afternoon.
“The fact is I’m a cheerleader for this country, I love our country, and I don’t want people to be frightened. I don’t want to create panic,” he said.
The first cases of COVID-19 were reported in Wuhan, China, and were disclosed by the World Health Organization on New Year’s Eve. Americans began testing positive for the disease weeks later.
More than 27.6 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, including 6.3 million in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University. It has killed roughly 190,000 in the U.S. alone.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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