Today, Congressman Albio Sires released the following statement in response to recorded interviews between President Trump and Bob Woodward, in which the President states he acknowledges the dangers of COVID-19 in early February:

“The released conversations between President Trump and Bob Woodward, in which the President clearly states he knew of the dangers of COVID-19 in early February, show a personal and moral failure in his ability to lead and protect the people of the United States of America. For months, the President has continually downplayed the risks of the virus while admitting to Mr. Woodward in early February that he knew how deadly and transmissible this virus really was. He also told Mr. Woodward in March of the dangers of the virus towards children, yet he has continually touted in public the low risk to children and youth during the back to school season. This dangerous lack of regard for American lives and failure to set up any sort of legitimate infrastructure to combat the virus has contributed to the loss of over 190,000 American lives. It is the inherent responsibility of the President of the United States to take the steps necessary to protect all Americans. The recordings reveal the President knew of the dangers to our country and failed to implement any strategies or steps to seriously combat the virus and prevent the loss of lives we have endured.

“My home state of New Jersey, and the 8th District which I represent, was one of the earliest and hardest hit areas of the country. Had the President been up-front about what he knew and when, we could have had a unified strategy rather than disinformation coming from the highest office, and likely would have been able to save thousands of more lives.”