Donald Trump on the phone in the Oval Office of the White House (illustration).

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Pete Marovich / SIPA

He will no doubt regret these telephone conversations.

As early as February-March, while he publicly declared that the coronavirus was "like a flu" and was going to "go away on its own", Donald Trump admitted in interviews with journalist Bob Woodward that the Covid was five times "more fatal ”than influenza and could potentially be transmitted through the air.

In audio clips published Wednesday by CNN, before the release of Woodward's book,

Rage

, expected on September 15, Donald Trump explained on March 19 that he "always wanted to minimize" the threat of Covid so as not to "create panic".

Asked about these remarks by the president, his spokesperson, Kayleigh McEnany, defended his management of the pandemic and his communication on it.

"The president has never lied to the Americans about the Covid," she said during her daily press briefing.

"The president has shown calm," she added.

The Covid-19 has killed more than 189,000 people in the United States to date.

#TrumpKnow

Unsurprisingly, Joe Biden stepped up to the plate on Twitter: “Donald Trump knew.

He lied to us for months.

And as a deadly virus devastated our country, it failed in its mission - on purpose.

It is a betrayal of the American people ”.

Her running mate Kamala Harris followed suit, as did Hillary Clinton.

Donald Trump knew.



He lied to us for months.



And while a deadly disease ripped through our nation, he failed to do his job - on purpose.



It was a life or death betrayal of the American people.

https://t.co/WDmVUvmmJk

- Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 9, 2020

Donald Trump knowingly betrayed the American people.



His refusal to act cost 190,000 Americans their lives, and tens of millions their livelihoods.



He is unfit to be president.

We must vote him out in November.

https://t.co/iBwJcqczG7

- Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) September 9, 2020

The Lincoln Project, a group of anti-Trump Republicans, has, for its part, uploaded an audio montage with the public statements of the American president in the face of his private remarks, raising the hashtags #TrumpKnew ("Trump knew) and #TrumpLiedPeopleDied ("Trump lied, people died") in the American top 10.

Trump knew it was worse than the flu.



Trump knew coronavirus was deadly.

#TrumpKnew and he did nothing.

pic.twitter.com/rWKzj5Ti1i

- The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) September 9, 2020

World

Coronavirus: Has Donald Trump "always known it was a pandemic" as he claims?

  • US presidential election

  • Covid 19

  • Donald trump

  • Coronavirus

  • World