Woodward Tells Bloomberg Reporter She Can Send Him an Apology After She Reads His Book

When asked anew on Friday why he didn’t report that President Donald Trump knew the novel coronavirus was deadlier than the flu in February despite publicly saying otherwise, Legendary Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward told another reporter to apologize to him. Shira Stein, a Bloomberg reporter covering the Department of Health and Human Services, said during a virtual version of the Investigative Reporters and Editors conference, “Who did you consult with when you decided that what Trump said in January about COVID-19 wasn’t worth reporting? Did any of them say you should publish it, and what was your justification for not doing so? As a healthcare reporter, you were wrong. We knew back then that this virus was spread by aerosol and was deadlier than the flu. You didn’t need to know where Trump got that information to know it was newsworthy.” Woodward responded, “I guess you didn’t cover when we dealt with this earlier. I urge you to read the book, and then you can send me an apology, because I was not wrong … I thought he was talking about China. It was in May that I learned he was talking about the U.S … You don’t understand the circumstances.” He then offered to mail Stein a free copy of the book.