Fox's Steve Doocy invokes 9/11 to defend tape of Trump admitting that he wants to downplay COVID-19 threat
Doocy: “Tomorrow is September 11th. I think what we have learned over the last 19 years is that, you know, our leaders, whether they're the military leaders or the intel leaders or the president, they get stuff crosses their desk every day”
Published
Citation From the September 10, 2020, edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends
STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): Keep in mind, you know, I think, what we have learned -- I mentioned at the top of the show tomorrow is September 11th. I think what we have learned over the last 19 years is that, you know, our leaders, whether they're the military leaders or the intel leaders or the president, they get stuff crosses their desk every day -- scary intel, some group is trying to do this, they're trying to poison the water or anthrax or all that stuff -- the president gets it in the form of his presidential daily briefing every day. And what does he do? Well, he doesn't, you know, blurt it out "hey, somebody is trying to blow up Akron" or something like that. Instead, as he said, you know, he didn't want people to freak out, so he tried to keep people calm.
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DOOCY: Ultimately, I think what have you just said, Ainsley, and what we have heard from the leaders on both sides, is that during times of trouble, our leaders know what's going on behind the scenes but they don't want us to freak out. Did we know everything back then that we know now? No, absolutely not. And so when Bob Woodward brings out these recordings, it looks like "ah ha!", but nonetheless, when you hear the president say "I just wanted people to calm down and freak out." Does that make sense to you? That's the big question.
BRIAN KILMEADE (CO-HOST): There's other stuff in the book, the president talking about a top-secret nuclear program that many people find disturbing, Robert O'Brien tried to rationalize it.