Kushner Told Woodward Trump 'Got the Country Back from the Doctors' in Discussing U.S. COVID Response
Category: News & Politics
Via: sister-mary-agnes-ample-bottom • 4 years ago • 46 commentsBy: Daniel Villarreal (MSN)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Kushner Told Woodward Trump 'Got the Country Back from the Doctors' in Discussing U.S. COVID Response
Recently released recordings from an April 18 interview with journalist Bob Woodward have revealed that Jared Kushner, senior White House adviser and son-in-law to Republican President Donald Trump, said Trump was "getting the country back from the doctors" when he sought to quickly re-open the country's economy soon after the coronavirus pandemic first hit.
© Drew Angerer/Getty In recently released tape from his interview with journalist Bob Woodward, Jared Kushner, Senior Advisor to Republican President Donald Trump, said that Trump "got the country back from the doctors" to quickly open up the country's businesses and public places despite the nation's worsening COVID-19 numbers. In this January 29, 2020 picture, Kushner looks on as Trump speaks before signing the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) in Washington, DC. Election Day 2020: Where Trump, Biden Stand In The Polls One Week Before Nov. 3 Newsweek See more videos SHARESHARETWEETSHAREEMAIL What to watch next
With the White House's blessing, Kushner spoke with Woodward as part of his research on his then-forthcoming book about the Trump presidency entitled Rage.
"The last thing was doing the [re-opening] guidelines, which was interesting, and that in my mind was almost like Trump getting the country back from the doctors, right?" Kushner told Woodward. "In the sense that, what he now did is open up."
"There were three phases: the panic phase, the pain phase and then the comeback phase," Kushner continued. "That doesn't mean there's not a whole lot of pain and won't be pain for a while. But what that basically does is we've put rules to go back to work. Trump is now back in charge, it's not the doctors. We have a negotiated settlement."
Kushner's remarks show the Trump administration's adversarial approach to doctors throughout the pandemic.
In July, four former directors of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) accused Trump of "subverting scientific expertise" and "unnecessarily putting lives at risk." In a Washington Post op-ed, they wrote, "No president ever politicized [the CDC's] science the way Trump has."
Previous to the op-ed, Trump had criticized the CDC's guidelines on how to reopen schools safely, calling them unnecessary and costly.
Shortly after schools reopened, the U.S. saw an increase in COVID-19 cases among children of all ages. While children had made up 2 percent of all U.S. cases in April, they made up 10 percent of all cases by September, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
On Monday, Trump said that doctors overreport COVID-19 deaths for financial gain. However, Ashish K. Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, called Trump's claim "Facebook junk" and many other doctors and medical associations said over-reporting could cause doctors to face criminal charges, potentially threatening their licensing.
In early October, The New England Journal of Medicine published its first-ever editorial in the publication's over-200-year history stating that Trump had "failed ... a test of leadership" in his response to the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic.
Newsweek contacted the White House for comment.
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Dump the Trumps 2020!
Simply stunning tape of Kushner.
How two fracking idiots allowed themselves to be taped will remain a mystery for centuries.
The interviews they had with Woodard show just how uncaring among many other things they really are. Yet their followers call dem's lemmings.
Did you hear the number of times he said 'we'? We? If he thinks that he is part of 'we' in any sort of official way, he is mistaken. He knows he can manipulate his weak-minded father-in-law, and has been doing it for many years...not just the last four.
The amazing part is that they boast about doing horrendous things, completely oblivious to how utterly evil it makes them look.
Of course, Trump will come out and claim neither he nor Jared actually said that, despite the recordings, and his sycophants will believe him.
I loved the stunned look on Lesley Stahl's face every time Trump said "I didn't say that" during the 60 Minutes interview.
Loved the clips she played that showed he actually did say that.
Vote folks. Fascism has reared its ugly head in America and needs to be defeated.
She's not alone...
Foreign Reporter Shocked By Trump’s ‘Alarming Incoherence’ On Border Wall Tour
Can you expand on what it is about this story that stuns you?
Kushner agreeing to be interviewed and taped.
For starters.
You're stunned he agreed to be interviewed and taped? I think he has done several interviews, so that's not that weird.
I would think anyone would seek to re-open the economy as soon as possible. That has been the goal pretty much everywhere in the world.
What he said in the interview the same as Trump/Woodward interview.
You left out the prelude and the most important part of the quote. "getting the country back from the doctors". We can see how well that's gone.
Everybody all over the world is still trying to do this, though. The only places that have really succeeded in getting the country back from the doctors are islands.
And the constant denial of anthropogenic global warming/climate change by Trump (and Faux) is idiotic and reprehensible.
In a just world Trump and Murdock would be occupying adjoining cells.
Correct.
Well, it would be more accurate to say:
I would think anyone would seek to re-open the economy as soon as possible if it could be done without greatly accelerating the Virus.
Since the beginning Trump and his groupies, as well as most commentators of Fox News, jave continually tried to downplay the seriousness of the virus-- in many cases even urging views not to give in to having to wear masks. Saying the Virus is no worse than the Flu-- or even the common Cold.And that it will go away by itself!
And in many areas that's worked...
It's a tragedy that someone so young is so arrogant.
Jared Kushner is a slumlord who inherited his business from his father.
That would be the same father that spent 3 years in federal prison for a multitude of crimes ranging from campaign finance chicanery, to blackmail, etc.
Not to excuse him, but I was a bit arrogant in my youth as well. Dad wasn't even a billionaire.
What is this "negotiated settlement"?
That's what I would like to know. I have a feeling that these 'doctors' who are backing Kushner's, oops, I mean Trump's agenda, have received something of high-enough value to make them flush their oath right down the nearest toilet.
Maybe the threat of losing their medical licenses?
Outside of Trump's power. Mainly just losing their jobs and being replaced by another unqualified Trump boot licker.
That's an empty threat. They can get better jobs elsewhere
True, but unlike Trump those doctors probably have souls, and therefore are concerned about the lives of fellow human beings. They know the result of Trump replacing them.
Dr. Scott Atlas would qualify for that position.
Trump tax plan was a financial boon for doctors, especially those operating as corporations. High income earners expect their taxes will go up. Our real deficit for 2020 including all the off the books quantitative easing the Fed has indulge in is probably in excess of ten trillion dollars. The gop cut taxes to the bone and Trump hasn't bothered to collect anyway. During good economic times Trump and the gop borrowed and spent and borrowed and spent like the good times would never end.
And then, Covid-19, a recession and this election.
The rich are conflicted by self interests and reality.
Do you think you're rich? Don't you think 'you' pay most of the taxes now?
Poorer people as well as the middle class pay a much higher percentage of their income in taxes than do the extremely wealthy.
And that's just for starters, because in addition wealthy people can afford to hire the very best Accountants-- and that makes a YUGE difference in hiow much they pay!
Do poor people pay more in taxes than the rich?
You kind of avoided the actual question. He didn't ask about percentages, he asked who paid the most.
That's a bit of a generalization.
I have a freind who would be considered "Rich". he admits it, and doesn't consider it a negative. He's pruod that's he's worked hard to attain it-- and is also one of the most generous people I've ever met.
Not really. MUVA stated that he paid his "fair share". Fair share can only be compared based on how much money you have, hence percentage.
Interestingly, the measure of being "rich" has changed. I can remember when being a millionaire was considered "Rich".
Now a family of 4 (with two kids to put through college, etc) can hardly be considered "Rich".
(And of course some people consider true riches to have nothing to do with material possessions or money).
Here is the actual question from post #4.2.1
Sorry, not one word in there about fair share, how much money you have, or percentages.
I think it's that this situation with the virus inherently creates a conflict between doctors wanting to do everything they can to defeat the virus and people who want to go back to their normal lives. That tension has always been there, continues to exist, and will go on for some time. It's not an evil thing. It's a natural part of any crisis like this.
We have a kind of negotiated settlement with all sorts of things that we care about. For example, if we wanted to eliminate automobile fatalities, we would outlaw driving entirely. We aren't prepared to do that because we like being able to drive. Thus, as a society, we kind of agree to accept a certain amount of injuries and deaths. We don't talk about it much, but that's the reality. That's just one example.
With Covid, doctors might love to just quarantine everybody for two or three weeks and that would get rid of the virus. Unfortunately, that's impossible unless we are also willing to let people starve, all medical treatment ceases, and we can somehow convince all criminals to stay indoors. Also, nothing important is allowed to break in that time.
So since that's not going to happen, doctors would still like to have the strongest restrictions to minimize spread of the virus. That's totally understandable from a doctor's perspective, but the rest of the country would like to try to do as much normal stuff as we can. There is constant tension between priorities, with no clear way to tell what the best middle ground is.
Thank-you, Tacos, for that well thought out and written response
However, we do restrict driving for those who have proved themselves irresponsible with such a potentially dangerous machine. We take people licenses away when they drive drunk or continually show disregard for the safety of others and refusal to follow the law.
It feels as if some want to throw all restriction (like speed limits in your prior example) out the window and just do whatever they want, consequences be damned. Some mask their reckless behavior behind claims that the pandemic is a hoax. The primary tension is between those who refuse to accept any safeguards and those who are simply trying to recommend best safe practices that they know will reduce the number of infections and possible deaths. No one on the left is advocating for 'giving up driving' (aka total lockdown), they are simply advocating the use of seat belts (masks) and speed limits (social distancing) as well as basic rules of the road as it were (washing hands, no large gatherings etc.). A person who wantonly disregards basic rules of safety that leads to the death of others is criminally negligent and should be held responsible for the lives they put at risk, just as they do when some reckless driver kills someone.
An excellent point!
Unfortunately, however, IMO many people see choices in terms of extremes-- they see the choice as being between two possibilities-- doing things only to one extreme-- or the other.
They often ignore the fact that there's a middle ground.
(For example, in "opening" after a complete shurdown-- its not an "either, or". You can open gradually, in stages. And in those areas where's there's a quick large spike in new cases adter the first stage of re-opening, you may have to go back to a shutdown-- or tightening up to the previous stage. But where there is no significant increase after a while, you can go to the next step in opening.
I won't miss Kushner's smirking face. Good Riddance!
Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see what it is about this story that is supposed to bother us.
What some of our friends fail to see is one simple fact. A vaccine helps to prevent you from getting (when it comes) it. But unless there is a CURE it isn't going away.............any more than the seasonal flu or the common cold. They always come back and as strong as this little bastard is, it is highly unlikely it may ever reach eradicated status. Yep we can do all we can to curtail it.........for now but as long as there is one person that has it, the risk is still there for a recurrence. And we all know not 100% of the population here or world wide get the seasonal flu vaccine and it still kills. We can slow the spread but that's about it. It isn't going to get mad and go home.............where ever that may be. It's gonna hang in there. Hell this one started in the winter and lived through summer so seasons seem to have no effect on it whatsoever.
Just my $.02
Whoa-- wait a second!
I distinctly remember Trump saying its going to go away...all by itself!
I really don't care what Mr. Trump said. It is what it is. time to face reality.