I think it’s very important for everyone to remember that by the time Trump admitted he was downplaying the pandemic, we all knew what was going on.

Well, any of us who were paying attention and wanted to know what was going on knew.

It was personal for me. My elderly father had an advanced case of COPD and we knew that if he got the virus, that would be the end of the story.

By the beginning of March, we knew enough to be masking up anytime we stepped outdoors, and we knew the pandemic was going to be deadly serious.

I think what people might be missing in this Woodward story is that it wasn’t information about the pandemic that was newsworthy. Open sources were already printing everything we needed to know.

What was newsworthy was Trump’s mendacity. I don’t think reporting on it any sooner would have changed anything. I mean, look at Trump’s response now, even with the hard case being made against him.

He’s denying everything, and so are his supporters, even in the face of recordings.

So how would it have helped to have released any of that sooner?

I can’t see that it would have.