White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows asserted on Wednesday night that allowing Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward to speak to President Donald Trump, who subsequently told the reporter he was downplaying COVID-19 on purpose, was probably not a good idea.
During an interview on Fox News, Meadows said he was “not surprised” Trump spoke to Woodward as the journalist was writing a new book about the President titled “Rage.”
“Honestly, his access to the White House is probably something that I would not have recommended had I been in the chief of staff role very early on,” Meadows said of Woodward.
The interviews were held back when Mick Mulvaney was Trump’s acting chief of staff and Meadows was still a GOP congressman representing North Carolina. Meadows did not assume his new role until March 31 this year, about two weeks after Trump told Woodward that he “wanted to always play it down” regarding COVID-19 even though he privately acknowledged the major threat the virus posed to the country.
Yet Meadows praised Trump on Wednesday for being “willing to talk to anybody about any subject no matter how difficult” and “making sure the American people stay informed.”
Watch the White House official below:
Meadows says Woodward's access to Trump was "probably something that I would not have recommended." pic.twitter.com/XIc8Enfl4j
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) September 10, 2020
