Woodward Had A 'Moral Duty' To Release Trump Interviews Earlier, Critics Say

KEY POINTS

Critics argued Bob Woodward should have released the Trump interviews earlier given the toll caused by coronavirus in the U.S.
Woodward argued he wanted to ensure all information Trump received about the pandemic was accurate before releasing the interviews
Some journalists and authors defended Woodward, pointing to his methodical process and saying the anger should remain focused on Trump

President Donald Trump faced his share of criticism over comments during his interviews with Bob Woodward, the award-winning journalist who helped expose the Watergate scandal is facing his share of criticism as well.

Other journalists said Woodward shouldn't have sat on the interviews done for his new book "Rage" for as long as he did, especially as they relate to Trump admittingly downplaying the severity of the coronavirus pandemic.

As of Thursday, the U.S. had over 6.38 million confirmed cases and over 191,000 reported deaths from coronavirus.

Critics generally agreed Woodward had a “moral duty” to release the interviews given the toll coronavirus inflicted on the U.S. since it hit in February. Several took to Twitter to say why they were frustrated with Woodward’s decision.

If journalism is a public trust––a trust that has consistently eroded––and Bob Woodward is an associate editor at @washingtonpost, why did Woodward sit on this information while Americans suffered and died? pic.twitter.com/K4nRXTGn7t
— Jose Antonio Vargas (@joseiswriting) September 9, 2020

even if you don't believe in service journalism or that we have an ethical duty to speak truth to power and expose wrong doing, even if all you care about is scoops, this is an abject failure. its just gross profiteering off death and misery on the part of Woodward.
— john r stanton (@dcbigjohn) September 9, 2020

How differently might Trump's supporters have acted if - this whole time - they knew that he knew COVID was a serious threat? Woodward could have made that happen in February.
— Jessica Huseman (@JessicaHuseman) September 9, 2020

Woodward defended his decision, saying he wanted to ensure the information Trump received as accurate before releasing the interviews publicly.

“He tells me this, and I’m thinking, ‘Wow, that’s interesting, but is it true?’ Trump says things that don’t check out, right?” Woodward told the Associated Press. “If I had done the story at that time about what he knew in February, that’s not telling us anything we didn’t know.”

Woodward said while he vetted the information, he was still determined to get the book out before the 2020 general election in November.

“That was the demarcation line for me,” Woodward said. “Had I decided that my book was coming out on Christmas, the end of this year, that would have been unthinkable.”

Other journalists and authors also came to Woodward’s defense. Washington Post critic Erik Wemple said it was Woodward’s meticulous approach that secured him 18 personal interviews with Trump.

“That method explains how he gets officials and presidents to cooperate with him,” Wemple said in a Twitter thread. “If he were doing daily dispatches and attending all the White House briefings, he wouldn't be getting 18 on-the-record interviews with President Trump.”

Author Andrew Maraniss echoed Wemple, saying the anger should remain focused on Trump for letting people die.

“The more important news here is that the president is on tape admitting he knew and lied and let people die,” Maraniss said in his own Twitter thread. “It's not as if we all thought Trump was doing a great job on COVID & only now realize we were wrong. Woodward isn't a public official and doesn't have the same responsibilities.”

“I'm thankful he got Trump to indict himself on tape, regardless of timing. That's much more important than how the author broke the story, even if frustrating. I see this as different than someone like Bolton who was in gov't, could have testified. Be mad at Trump, not Woodward.”

The investigative reporter interviewed Trump 18 times between December and July, which ended up being the foundation for his new book. It serves as a sequel to Woodward’s 2018 book on Trump, “Fear: Trump in the White House,” and is set for release on Sept. 15.