Donald Trump's lie about coronavirus is another impeachable offense

Telling Bob Woodward Covid was "deadly" but he wanted to "play it down" is another reason why he must be removed.

Welcome to The Signorile Report, where you’ll read hard-hitting political commentary and exposés; find interviews with newsmakers; hear me “engage” with right-wingers who call my radio program; and connect with like-minded, passionate people everywhere committed to fighting against hate and corruption. Subscribe now to get all of this in your email box a few times a week.

We're less than two months away from the presidential election and Donald Trump has now been exposed again as knowing how “deadly” coronavirus was even as he told Americans there would soon be no cases, that it would “disappear” and that it was even a “hoax.” But this time it’s with his own words, on audio recordings. There’s no getting away from it.

Trump continued to hold rallies, fought against mask-wearing and business and school shutdowns even as he knew it was “not just older people” but “it’s plenty of young people.” He even admitted on tape to famed journalist Bob Woodward that, even knowing all that, he wanted to “play it down,” and “I still want to play it down.”

That’s just the tip of the iceberg from Woodward’s new book, “Rage.”

Manu Raju @mkraju

Trump tells Woodward he played down the threat of the coronavirus. "I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down because I don't want to create a panic." He also tells Woodward that "plenty of young people" are vulnerable -- different from his public message

The 18 interviews Woodward conducted with Trump go back as early February and March, when Trump was downplaying the virus to the American people.

“You just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed,” Trump said in a Feb. 7 call with Woodward. “And so that’s a very tricky one. That’s a very delicate one. It’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flu. This is deadly stuff.”

This was while Trump was giving speeches and press conferences saying the flu was worse than coronavirus and that many more people die from the flu. It’s mind-boggling that he’d give this interview and not have an awareness that six months later it would be public and almost 200,000 Americans would be dead from coronavirus.

In the book, former defense secretary, Ret. Gen. Jim Mattis, is quoted saying Trump is “unfit” and “dangerous.” Former Director of Intelligence Dan Coates harbored “a secret belief…that Putin has something on Trump.”

These guys and many others shouldn’t get off easy, as they enabled Trump in his recklessness for too long and didn’t go public early or forcefully enough. The entire Republican Party is guilty of horrendous negligence that has put so many in danger and cost the lives of hundreds of thousands.

Joe Biden rightly slammed Trump hard, calling it a “life and death betrayal.” Trump responded to the book today by saying what he meant by “play it down” is that he didn’t want to “cause a panic.”

“We had to remain calm,” he said at the White House. “You don’t want to create a panic.”

NowThis @nowthisnews

‘If you said ‘in order to reduce panic,’ perhaps that’s so’ — Trump just admitted that he did mislead the public on COVID-19 to ‘reduce panic’

This from a man who’s done nothing but create panics — panics that defamed and physically harmed people, panics that inspired mass murders and cost people’s lives.

From railing about dangerous “caravans” crossing the border and demonizing Muslims (whom his administration banned from the country), to alleging “violence” from the “marxist” Black Lives Matters and thundering about the “danger” of shutting down the economy even if it saved lives, Trump has done nothing but try to instill panic.

So this was possibly the most bogus argument he’s made. Democrats have to act. They should impeach him again — yes, even with less than two months until the election. It will only galvanize more voters. No need for drawn-out hearings. Just play the tapes and vote — and dare those vulnerable Republicans in the House and Senate to defend him now.

I doubt they will do that, and assume they will opt for launching an investigation that gets thwarted. But whatever they do we all must get out and vote — as early voting is beginning in many states — and make sure we do so as early as possible so Trump can’t steal the election. We must boot his ass out of office once and for all.