Contact: Speaker’s Press Office,

202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued this statement on President Trump’s conversation with Bob Woodward, revealing the President was aware of the deadly nature of the coronavirus early this year and hid it from the public:

“The President’s own words spell out the devastating truth: Trump was fully aware of the catastrophic nature of the coronavirus but hid the facts and refused to take the threat seriously, leaving our entire country exposed and unprepared.

“More than six million Americans have been infected, 190,000 have died and tens of millions are jobless and at risk of hunger and homelessness.  So much of this pain could have been avoided, but President Trump refused to tell the truth or to act to protect the American people.  The horrifying toll of Trump’s deadly disinformation and negligence in the lives of grieving families and to our economy is a historic national tragedy.

“Even now, the President still refuses to listen to science and take the action necessary to crush the virus and protect the lives and livelihoods of the American people.  We must have a science-based strategic plan to defeat the coronavirus, as advanced in the Heroes Act that Senate Republicans continue to block.”

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