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'I Didn't Lie,' Trump Asserts About Seriousness of Coronavirus

Steve Herman

   WHITE HOUSE - "I didn't lie," U.S. President Donald Trump bluntly
   responded at a White House news conference Thursday after a reporter
   asked him, "Why did you lie to the American people?"

   The question from ABC News White House correspondent Jon Karl came in
   the wake of audio released by journalist and author Bob Woodward, to
   whom Trump acknowledged early this year he wanted to play down the
   threat from the coronavirus.

   "I don't want to jump up and down screaming, 'Death. Death,' " Trump
   replied to justify intentionally misleading the country about the
   severity of COVID-19.

   He called Karl's question disrespectful and took queries from only two
   other reporters before abruptly departing the briefing room.

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