Donald Trump has claimed he read Bob Woodward’s new book about him in just one night. The veteran journalist’s book, Rage, has caused a stir with its details of the President’s reaction to COVID-19.
Trump spoke to Fox News on Tuesday and dismissed the book. However, he also said he’d read the 466-page book the night before the interview, prompting criticism.
“I actually got to read it last night. I read it very quickly and it was very boring,” Trump said.
“But there was not much in that book,” he said.
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Trump’s dislike for reading has been well documented with some of those who worked with him even claiming he was close to being functionally illiterate. This makes his claim about finishing the book so quickly hard to believe.
He confirmed that details in Rage were accurate but also defended his comments reported in Woodward’s book that he knew how bad Coronavirus was but downplayed it so he wouldn’t cause a “panic.”
“It’s OK, I mean it’s fine. I don’t want to create panic,” he said.
“People say, you should have gone out there and … jumped up and down, ‘You’re going to die, you’re going to die.’ No, I don’t want to do that.”
“I’ll say it now, we’re rounding the turn on the pandemic. we’re rounding the turn,” he said.
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Darragh Roche is a journalist covering U.S. politics and media
