Bob Woodward: What Trump has done ‘is almost unthinkable’

By Jerry Mitchell
Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting

Washington Post reporter and author Bob Woodward, who has covered nine presidents, told MCIR that what Donald Trump did in the latest debate was “outrageous,” “unpresidential” and “irresponsible” — “a sitting president saying democracy no longer counts.”

Before the debate, Trump warned his supporters that Democrats are “going to try to steal this election. The only way they can win Pennsylvania, frankly, is to cheat on the ballots.” 

During the debate, he said he would back the results “if it’s a fair election … but if I see tens of thousands of ballots being manipulated, I can't go along with that.”

After the 2016 election, Trump insisted millions had voted illegally, but no evidence ever emerged to back that theory.

In the debate, he questioned the validity of mail-in ballots, a voting system used in many states, claiming mail carriers in West Virginia are “selling the ballots” or dumping them in rivers and creeks.

He might challenge mail-in votes and have the U.S. Supreme Court decide the election, he said. “I think I’m counting on them to look at the ballots, definitely.”

He predicted, “This is not going to end well.”

In a conversation Thursday with MCIR, Woodward said what the president has done “is almost unthinkable. The problem and the attack on the election is by Trump himself.”

While much of the press focused on Trump’s failure in the debate to “denounce white racists,” Woodward said he believes the deeper issue is making sure democracy works.

“It’s such a shocking attack on the Constitution, on the whole sense of legitimacy of the election,” he said. “It’s not to the edge of the cliff, but off the cliff. It’s a repudiation on his part of the vote and the legitimacy of the presidency.”

Challenging the process could throw democracy into doubt, he said. “When are we going to know who’s president? By Jan. 20? It’s the president’s job to bring certainty to the process.”

What Trump is doing is “so out of bounds and so unconstitutional,” he said. “It’s a renunciation of his responsibility.”

In previous books on presidents, Woodward hasn't shared his opinions, but he did in Rage, concluding that Trump "is the wrong man for the job."

He told MCIR that he’s working on his next book and has already written one chapter. He wouldn't say what the book is about.

His stories with Carl Bernstein about the Watergate scandal helped lead to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974.

The reporter contrasted Nixon and Trump, saying what Nixon did was illegal and that nothing Trump has done has been against the law.

After hours of interviews with former President Gerald Ford, Woodward said he concluded that Ford was correct in pardoning Nixon.

Ford told him that the sooner Nixon moved off the front pages of newspapers and into the history books, the better off the nation would be.

“The sooner Trump is sent into the history books, the better off we’ll be,” Woodward said. “We are on fire in this country.” 

Anything that can be done to reduce the temperature and stabilize the country is welcome, he said.

If Trump loses in November, Woodward said he sees no reason for prosecutors to pursue criminal charges.

“Let him go to Mar-a-Lago and play golf,” he said. “I’ll go caddy for him.”

Jerry Mitchell is an investigative reporter for the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit news organization that is exposing wrongdoing, educating and empowering Mississippians, and raising up the next generation of investigative reporters. Sign up for MCIR’s newsletters here.

Email him at Jerry.Mitchell@MississippiCIR.org and follow him on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.