On March 19th of this year, President Trump revealed to the journalist Bob Woodward that he recognized the severity of Covid-19 early onto its spread in the United States. Despite this, President Trump continued to downplay the virus in other conferences and interviews in hopes to avoid public panic. Now that the tapes have been exposed months after by Woodward, citizens and public officials scramble to comprehend the reasons behind President Trump’s actions and Bob Woodward’s choice to release the tapes several months after the incident. 

At the beginning of 2020, Covid-19 made its first debut in the United States. President Donald Trump attempted to mediate his citizens, and instill peace among the people by publicly underestimating its potential impact. Bob Woodward, an investigative journalist who works for The Washington Post interviewed President Trump and asked about his opinions regarding the virus. He captured the president’s response which was, “I wanted to always play it down. … I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.” 

Bob Woodward emphasizes that he did not make any agreement with the president to withhold the information said at the interview, but Woodward desired to deliver this information in his new book, Rage, which was released on September 15, 2020. As Woodward and President Trump’s actions were unraveled, the American people acknowledged and addressed the situation promptly.

Although many Americans support President Trump’s decisions regarding the virus, there are also many Americans who express frustration toward the president’s actions because of how harmless the pandemic was perceived.Vanden High School AP US History teacher Mr. David Kenyon predicts that,“If the president told the public about his true opinions regarding the Coronavirus, the people would wear masks, protect others, and 25% of deaths regarding Covid-19 would not be in the hands of the U.S. “ 

He emphasizes that President Trump’s downplaying of the virus led his people into not taking proper precautions which increased the cases even more.  Kenyon compares Trump’s initiatives to the Constitution’s core values and he concludes that the president acts threaten the people’s health and undervalues the people’s wellbeing. Kenyon then provided his stance on how the president’s decision aligns with the United States’ core values, he confidently expresses, “There are no benefits to President Trump downplaying the virus because one of the main goals in the Constitution is to promote the general welfare. Downplaying the virus hindered the general welfare. Because of this, the cases have risen tremendously and the severity could have been avoided.” 

On the contrary, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel stood behind the president’s actions announcing that Trump was “calm and methodical” in his approach of Covid-19. She applauded his efforts of banning travel to China in the virus’ early stages, which she believes inhibited the spread. She then mentioned that the president strategically created a task force to tackle the virus head on. This provided individuals with incitement to Trump’s intentions of downplaying the virus. It provides the public with his reason, that a reassuring and calm approach is more appropriate and effective when a country is handling a pandemic this severe. 

Many focus their frustrations on Bob Woodward instead of the president. This is displayed through John Stanton’s position on the incident. Stanton, who is a former Washington bureau chief of Buzzfeed tweets that “There is no ethical or moral defense of Woodward’s decision to not publish these tapes as soon as they were made. If there was any chance it could save a single life, he was obligated to do so. Bob Woodward put making money over his moral and professional duty.” 

Individuals like Stanton question Woodward’s morals and accuse Woodward of prioritizing money and sales of his book, over people’s lives. They stress that the tapes could have been released earlier because it would’ve saved a multitude of people who lost their lives to the virus. On the contrary, others understand Woodward’s actions. This is communicated through Micheal Socolow, a media historian, who communicates that journalists have been withholding information for years. He argues that this is the reality of journalism, and reporters do not rush to publish the information they obtain. He follows it up with reasons journalists withhold information which are political motives or enriching themselves.

Now that the situation has been disclosed to the public, Americans may react differently to the virus. Some predict that the guidelines created to fight the virus may be followed more in order to tackle Covid-19 in the United States for the safety and security of the people. Since the public is now notified of the president’s perception of Covid 19, Kenyon anticipates that, 

“People will hopefully start wearing masks and taking more precautions so that the U.S. can recover.”