‘You're Blowing This’: Wife Melania Warned Trump to Take COVID Response 'More Seriously', Book Says
07:07 GMT 15.09.2022 (Updated: 10:54 GMT 15.09.2022)
© AFP 2023 / MANDEL NGAN
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'The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021', written by journalists Peter Baker of The New York Times and Susan Glasser of The New Yorker, hopes to shed light on the inside story of Donald Trump’s four years in the Oval Office, with dozens of “exclusive scoops” and “stories from behind the scenes in the White House”.
Melania Trump expressed her worries that her husband, while he was POTUS, was "blowing" the US response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a forthcoming book on Donald Trump's time in the White House.
The former First Lady was seriously "rattled by the coronavirus", reveals 'The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021', written by New York Times chief White House correspondent Peter Baker and New Yorker staff writer Susan Glasser.
"You're blowing this… This is serious. It's going to be really bad, and you need to take it more seriously than you're taking it,” Melania Trump was cited as telling her husband, according to CNN.
However, the 45th US President dismissed his wife’s concerns, allegedly retorting:
“You worry too much… Forget it.'"
Nevertheless, Melania Trump is said to have persisted, sharing her concerns in a phone call with former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. The former First Lady had hoped the Trump ally would help her persuade her husband to adopt a more serious stance on coronavirus response, according to the book which is due out on 20 September.
Donald Trump had been forced to fend off censure over his coronavirus response during his presidency, as critics accused him of downplaying the seriousness of the virus at an early stage. Trump had expressed confidence that the virus would quickly go away, saying in January 2020:
“We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.”
Trump also voiced skepticism over the effectiveness of mask-wearing. He introduced Amy Coney Barrett, a federal appeals judge and his nominee to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the next Supreme Court justice, at an outdoor ceremony in the Rose Garden on 26 September, which was attended by more than 150 people, many of whom did not wear a mask or practice social distancing.
7 December 2021, 11:14 GMT
That gathering later became known as a “superspreader” event, and shortly after both Trump and his wife contracted COVID-19. The 45th POTUS had also touted unproved treatments during the daily briefings on COVID-19, recommending hydroxychloroquine as a potential "game changer", even at one point speculating whether “ingesting” any type of cleansing product or disinfectant would be beneficial in fighting the virus.
In March 2020, in an interview with author Bob Woodward for the book 'Rage', Donald Trump acknowledged that he had always sought to downplay the danger of the coronavirus, saying:
"I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create panic."
2 September 2020, 22:22 GMT
'The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021' is said to be based on interviews with Donald Trump himself, cabinet officers, members of the military, close advisers, Trump family members, congressional leaders, foreign officials and others.
Today’s excerpt in the @NewYorker is part of our book “THE DIVIDER: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021,” with @sbg1, to be published by @doubledaybooks on Sept. 20. pic.twitter.com/M1fVgy1GhI
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) August 8, 2022
