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On Feb. 7, during a taped interview with Bob Woodward, President Trump acknowledged that the coronavirus could be transmitted through the air, that it was very dangerous and that it would be difficult to contain. “This is deadly stuff,” he told the investigative journalist.“You just breathe the air, and that’s how it’s passed,” the president warned. Despite his apparent understanding of the severity of the disease and its method of transmission, over the next month, in five cities around the country, Mr. Trump held large indoor rallies, which were attended by thousands of his supporters. (9/9)

That President Trump lied to the American people about the danger of the novel coronavirus may not be shocking. More shocking is that he was willing to admit this to Bob Woodward, whose new book “Rage” includes damning new evidence of Trump’s contempt for the truth and American lives. ... Trump admitted to Woodward on March 19 that he deliberately minimized the danger. “I wanted to always play it down,” the president said. “Play it down,” in this case, means lie. (Jennifer Rubin, 9/9)

President Trump is being accused of lying to the public about the severity of the coronavirus pandemic, but Democrats were the ones who initially downplayed the crisis, Fox News’ Sean Hannity said Wednesday night. The "Hannity" host played video of Joe Biden speaking at a rally in South Carolina on Feb. 28, three weeks after Trump told journalist Bob Woodward that the virus was "deadly stuff." At the rally, Biden told supporters that it was "not a time to panic" about the virus, though he acknowledged it was a "serious public health challenge." (Angelica Stabile, 9/9)

Trump knew. He knew, and he lied. New audio reveals that Trump knew back in March that the new coronavirus was airborne, contagious and significantly “more deadly” than the flu. But he publicly told Americans that the virus was no big deal and “going to disappear.” He wasn’t just unprepared to deal with a crisis. He wasn’t just incompetent. He wasn’t even ill-informed. He knew how bad it was, and he did everything he could to downplay the situation. We know because he admitted all this — not just on the record, but on tape — to Bob Woodward, the investigative journalist who helped break the Watergate story that brought down President Nixon. So, you know, he’s an idiot too. “I wanted to always play it down,” said Trump. (Mariah Kruetter, 9/9)

When the crisis came as a pandemic, a different president, conscious of his limitations, might have stepped back to let Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx do the talking. But Mr. Trump has bluffed his way through life claiming to know more than the experts. He needs to be the groom at every wedding and the infant at every christening. Stories abound of how zany ideas are quietly tamped down, or ignored entirely, by appointees around the agencies. But that’s not a stable situation. In time he will insert more personal loyalists into agency jobs. (Walter Olson, 9/9)

It matters who the president is. Millions of lives and livelihoods depend on the character, competence, altruism and integrity of the person in the Oval Office -- whatever their party or ideology. But President Donald Trump -- as he devastatingly revealed in his own voice to Bob Woodward -- met the great crisis of his age with ineptness, dishonesty and an epic dereliction of duty. (Stephen Collinson, 9/10)

Trump publicly minimized the risks and told Americans that the virus was “going to disappear.” He made fun of masks, including when former Vice President Joe Biden first appeared in public wearing one. He celebrated supporters who showed up at rallies without masks and went out of his way to convey a sense of disregard for a virus that has now infected 6.3 million and killed nearly 190,000. In short, Trump has massive amounts of blood on his hands. (9/9)