Audio reveals that Trump didn't react with 'calmness' when someone sneezed in the Oval Office

Donald Trump's world was recently rocked by the revelation in Bob Woodward's book that the president had deliberately tried to downplay the seriousness of coronavirus.

The president has since tried to claim that he was trying to emulate Winston Churchill with the calmness that the British prime minister showed during the Second World War, which is almost the complete opposite of what Churchill did during the conflict.

Well, despite his protests, Trump appears to have not reacted calmly at all, especially in the early stages of the pandemic when someone sneezed in the Oval Office.

During an interview with Stephen Colbert on A Late Show, Bob Woodward aired a previously unheard recording of one of his conversations with Trump which reportedly took place on 13 April.

In the short audio clip, Trump tells Woodward that he knows how easily Covid-19 can spread and shares an anecdote about the aforementioned sneeze in the White House.

He says:

Bob, it's so easily transmissible, you wouldn't believe it. I mean, you could, you could be in the room...I was in the White House a couple of days ago, meeting with 10 people in the Oval Office and a guy sneezed – innocently. Not a horrible... you know, just a sneeze. The whole room bailed out, okay? Including me, by the way.

After hearing the clip, Colbert notes that although Trump was making light of the situation, it was still a shocking admittance from the president.

Woodward goes on to say that Trump received specifics about the severity of coronavirus way back on 28 January but seemingly ignored them despite appearing to worry about them personally.

Woodward said:

I once asked him, what’s the job of the president? He said the job is to protect the people. I agree. I think most people in the country would. He failed to protect the people. He failed to find a way to tell the truth.

Woodward also asks if Trump would have reacted in a similar manner if someone had sneezed on the front row at one of the many campaign rallies that he has held during this period.

Trump has been widely criticised for holding several large rallies across the United States in recent months where there was little to no evidence of people wearing face coverings or adhering to social distancing guidelines.

The United States has by far been the worst country hit by Covid-19 with more than 6.5 million cases and 194,000 confirmed deaths from the disease.