Bob Woodward: Trump has ‘lost his way’ as president — and human being

In an interview on Yahoo News' “Skullduggery” podcast on Thursday, Bob Woodward, author of the book “Rage,” told Michael Isikoff and Dan Klaidman that President Trump has “lost his way, not just as president, but as a human being.”

Video Transcript

DANIEL KLAIDMAN: What was going through your head when you heard that, other than coining the term up-played, which I'm not sure I've ever heard? What does that say about Donald Trump?

BOB WOODWARD: Well, it's the mixed message. And suppose you're a neutral voter citizen of America and trying to deal with the virus for your family. Do you send your children to school? What is the risk in all of this? It is so confusing. It makes you dizzy. And this idea of up-playing, I don't even think that's a word. Now it will be in one of those slang dictionaries.

But Trump-- and I think overall, the book shows he's lost his way, not just as president but as a human being trying to assess what's real and what's unreal. And his capacity to separate that is seriously, I mean, it's not a matter of question. There you are, listening to this. And it is a tragedy.

As you may know, at the end of the book, I was typing along the epilogue. And it just came out, as you know, in writing, about what you're thinking and feeling. And I said, in totality, Trump is the wrong man for the job. And I realized what I was saying directly. And I consulted with my wife Elsa, who Michael knows from "The Washington Post," my assistants, Evelyn Duffy, Steve Riley, my publisher Jon Karp at Simon & Schuster.

And I said, what do you think? This is coming from-- it's a conclusion based on overwhelming evidence. And they said to me collectively, and this was such-- you learn a lot about yourself when you do these things. And it was-- and they said, look, you're writing about truth. And that is the truth. And how are you going to duck the truth?

And I've had people call me and say, if you had not said that, they would be all over me and say, wait a minute, you've got all of these particularly Republican senators and legislators who won't step up to their responsibility. Because I mean, I know these people. They understand.

They know Trump is the wrong man for the job. But they will hide behind, oh well, I'm not going to talk. I'm not sure, or I support him. And I was not willing to join that outraged crowd.

DANIEL KLAIDMAN: Yeah, I mean this was a--