MUST READ: This post was updated Sept.13 with a substantially expanded timeline of who said what, when they said it … and how Trump responded at the time.
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Woodward certainly set the media’s collective hair on fire with his “bombshell” that Trump “knew” that the coronavirus was more serious than he was telling the American people.
Biden: “Clear evidence of incompetence and dereliction of duty”.
Trump: “Listening to the scientists, and didn’t want to prematurely cause a panic”.
How to settle the question?
Let’s start with what Dr. Anthony Fauci had to truth-tell on the matter:
By Fauci’s own admission, Trump was “following the science” … contemporaneously channeling what Fauci and other “scientists” were telling him at the time.
Let’s dig a little deeper on that and look hard at the timeline…
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First, some under-reported background…
On Sept. 16, 2019 — well before the coronavirus hit anyone’s radar — a Council of Economic Advisers Report advised Trump that — based on historical experience — there was always a 4% annual chance of a pandemic, that a vaccine would be the primary tool for mitigating such an outbreak and that the in-place bureaucratic rules & processes were too slow and cumbersome to deliver a vaccine in a timely manner.
Promptly, on Sept. 19, 2019, a few days after the CEA issued its report, the president signed Executive Order 13887 which laid the groundwork for Operation Warp Speed — private-public partnerships with substantial risk-mitigating government financing.
For details, see What did Trump know, when did he know it and what did he do about it?
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Now, fast forward to 2020 …
On January 20, the first laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19 in the United States was confirmed; it was reported to the CDC on January 22. Source
On January 21, Dr. Fauci said in an interview that “this is not a major threat for the people of the United States, and this is not something that the citizens of the United States right now should be worried about.” Source
On January 26 when he was asked whether Americans should be scared, Fauci replied, “I don’t think so. The American people should not be worried or frightened by this. It’s a very, very low risk to the United States.” Source
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About the NSA warning…
In a January 28 top secret intelligence briefing, national security adviser Robert O’Brien gave Trump a “jarring” warning about the virus, telling the President it would be the “biggest national security threat” of his presidency. Source
Keep in mind that O’Brien is a “security advisor”, not a “scientist”. His intelligence was based on “rumblings on the ground” in China, not hard scientific evidence.
On January 29, Trump’s trade adviser, Peter Navarro — often characterized as a loose cannon and blowhard — sent Trump a memo “laying out in striking detail the potential risks of a coronavirus pandemic: as many as half a million deaths and trillions of dollars in economic losses.” Source
On January 31 Trump issued the much maligned Chinese travel ban … which was opposed by politicos who considered it xenophobic …and by the scientists who thought it was premature and unnecessary.
On January 31 (when Trump announced banning travel from China), Fauci finessed his opposition to the travel ban, saying “We still have a low risk to the American public, but we want to keep it at a low risk.” Source
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On January 31, the Washington Post headlined:
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What Biden had to say…
On February 1 — the day after the travel ban — Biden tweeted:
“We are in the midst of a crisis with the coronavirus. We need to lead the way with science — not Donald Trump’s record of hysteria, xenophobia, and fear-mongering. He is the worst possible person to lead our country through a global health emergency.” Source
For the record: Biden’s campaign now says that since the tweet did not explicitly refer to the travel ban … that Biden must have been speaking about Trump’s general approach and that the day-after announcement timing was strictly coincidental.
My, what a coincidence…
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More from Dr. Fauci…
On February 3, Fauci commented further on the travel ban: “I think you are going to see a dampening down (of U.S. cases) because of the travel restrictions Trump has put in place” Source
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On February 15, Worldometer reported that the U.S. had accumulated 15 confirmed Covid-19 cases and zero covid-related deaths.
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On February 17 — 17 days after Trump announced the travel ban — Dr. Fauci told USA Today that the coronavirus risk was miniscule … and people should not wear masks.
From the in-depth USA Today interview with Dr. Fauci:
Fauci doesn’t want people to worry about coronavirus, the danger of which is “just minuscule.”
But he does want them to take precautions against the “influenza outbreak, which is having its second wave.”
“We have more kids dying of flu this year at this time than in the last decade or more,” he said.
“The threat is (that we have) a pretty bad influenza season, particularly dangerous for our children.”
“Whenever you have the threat of a transmissible infection, there are varying degrees from understandable to outlandish extrapolations of fear,” Fauci said.
Specifically, on the subject of mask, Fauci asserted:
“Now, in the United States, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to wear a mask.”
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On February 28., the first coronavirus death was reported in Seattle.
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On February 28, Fauci finally acknowledged, “It could be really, really bad, but I don’t think it’s gonna be, because I think we’d be able to do the kind of mitigation. It could be mild.” Source
In a February 29 appearance on the NBC’s Today Show, Dr. Fauci was asked if Americans should stop their daily routines
His answer: “No. There is no need to change lifestyle yet. Malls, movie theaters, gyms are okay‘”
More specifically, Fauci said, “Right now the risk is still low, but this could change. … I mean, this could be a major outbreak. I hope not. Or it could be something that’s reasonably well controlled. At the end of the day, this will ultimately go down.” Source
Further, as late as March 9, Fauci is on record saying that “Large gatherings are a ‘judgement call’ … and “If you are a healthy young person, there is no reason if you want to go on a cruise ship, go on a cruise ship … cruises are ok for people with no other health issues” Source video Source article
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On March 1, Worldometer reported that the U.S. had accumulated 75 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 1 covid-related death.
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Fauci’s first warning shot…
At a WH press briefing on March 10, Fauci said that “as a nation, the risk is relatively low” … but noted that “there are parts of the country right now that are having community spread in which the risk there is clearly a bit more than that”.
And, in that March 10 press briefing, — Fauci fired off the first a warning shot:
“We would like the country to realize that as a nation, we can’t be doing the kinds of things we were doing a few months ago. That it doesn’t matter if you’re in a state that has no cases or one case.”
Three days later, on March 13, President Trump declared a national emergency:
To unleash the full power of the federal government, I am officially declaring a national emergency.
That will allow us to quickly get $50 billion to states, territories and localities” in our shared fight against this disease.”
No resource will be spared — nothing whatsoever.
I’m also asking every hospital in this country to activate its emergency preparedness plan, so that they can meet the needs of Americans everywhere.
The emergency orders I’m issuing today will also confer broad new authority to the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
The Secretary of HHS will be able to immediately wave revisions of applicable laws and regulations to give doctors, hospital — all hospitals — and health care providers maximum flexibility to respond to the virus and care for patients.
This includes the authority to waive laws to enable tele-health and to waive certain federal license requirements so the doctors from other states can provide services in states with the greatest need. Source
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The above is a partial timeline of what the scientists were telling Trump at the time!
It sure looks like Trump was “following the science”., telling Americans what Fauci was telling him and, most important, acting promptly on information as he was receiving it.
If you can’t believe Dr. Fauci…
The Homa Files 
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