Woodward: Trump ‘continues to lead … seditious conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election’

Bob Woodward writes in a new op-ed that former President Trump “continues to lead” a “seditious conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election” that the veteran Washington Post journalist believes will “destroy democracy” in the U.S.

Woodward writes that “Trump has learned where the levers of power are” in the American government and is seeking to pull them to gain full control.

“And full control means installing absolute loyalists in key Cabinet and White House posts,” Woodward writes. “The record now shows that Trump has led — and continues to lead — a seditious conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election, which in effect is an effort to destroy democracy.”

“Trump reminds how easy it is to break things you do not understand — democracy and the presidency,” he added.

Woodward, who helped break the story on the 1972 Watergate scandal under then-President Nixon and who wrote the 2020 book “Rage” about Trump’s presidency, is currently promoting the release of an audiobook, “The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodward’s Twenty Interviews with President Donald Trump.”

The audiobook, which includes the full audio of his 20 one-on-one interviews with the former president, is slated for release on Tuesday.

The interviews were recorded during Trump’s most consequential time in office, from his first impeachment through the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and the racial justice protests that swept the nation in the summer of 2020.

Woodward writes the audio tapes are integral to understanding how Trump works, because reading Trump’s words or hearing a portion of it aired on television is less revealing than the full extent of the long-winded interviews on the tapes.

“The voice, almost whispering and intimate, is so revealing,” Woodward writes of Trump’s audio on the tapes. “I believe that is Trump’s view of the presidency. Everything is mine. The presidency is mine. It is still mine. The only view that matters is mine.”

And yet, Woodward writes that “Trump’s voice is a concussive instrument. Fast and loud,” which has a certain allure to it.

“He hits hard and will lower his volume to underscore for effect. He is staggeringly incautious and repetitive, as if saying something often and loud enough will make it true,” he added.

Woodward writes that in the interviews, “You hear Trump relishing the authority of the presidency and relying on his personal instincts as the basis for major decisions.”

“It’s a self-focus that gets in the way of his ability to do the job,” the reporter noted.

Woodward’s interviews with the former president include multiple issues, such as the coronavirus pandemic and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump is facing several investigations related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The House select committee investigating the attack has subpoenaed Trump to testify as they work to release a final report.