Trump saying he wanted to "play down" COVID-19 isn't news. We *knew* he was. Likewise, *of course* he knew how deadly it was. Advisers told him.
You want news? How about 5 major-media reports confirming the Trump White House knew of the virus in November 2019? #ProofofCorruption
PS/ "News" is shocking—not something one previously had reason to suspect. I think this week we'll hear as "news" many things long self-evident. Trump admitting to what everyone in America already knew isn't news. The White House lying about 2019 COVID-19 intelligence *is* news.
PS2/ Media is going to do the silly and stupid things it does—but Americans needn't play along. *We* decide what's important: discovering when the White House learned about COVID-19—November 2019—or "learning" that yes, as we all *knew*, *Trump* knew he was downplaying the virus.
PS3/ When actual news comes out about Trump, I tweet it, whether it comes from ABC News, NBC News, The Times of Israel, and others—like my research on when the Trump White House learned of the virus—or Bob Woodward. But I can't pretend non-news is news just because it's "new."
PS4/ I *strongly* urge people not to adopt any new timeline for the White House's virus response that sets the beginning of Trump's recognition of the virus danger at late January. That is false—that is not what happened. But I'm afraid that's the new line that is being sold now.
PS5/ I'm glad we're hearing Trump's words. But I saw this happen with FEAR and the Trump-Russia issue—a book that seemed to be "hard" on Trump wrongly said there was no collusion. Now, a book that seems "hard" on Trump will *revise the pandemic timeline* in a way that aids Trump.
PS6/ In any event, I'll say no more—as anyone who reads Chapter 42 of Proof of Corruption and sees my sourcing will understand why this is upsetting. It's far easier than many think for a book that seems hard on Trump to in fact be doing him a much bigger solid than any critique.
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