‘Peril Remains’: Bob Woodward Explains Why Democracy is Still Threatened Because ‘Trump is Still Out There’
Spoiler alert: The final words of Bob Woodward and Robert Costa’s book detailing the last days of the Trump administration and transition to President Joe Biden are “Peril remains.”
CNN host John Berman revealed this detail to viewers of New Day who have not yet completed the book Peril, which was published Tuesday amid breathless headlines detailing reporting from the book that is both shocking and entirely predictable.
One of the many unbelievable reports revealed by the book is a “six-point plan drawn up by John Eastman to overturn the 20th election loss,” as Berman put it. He then turned to the last page of the book, astutely framing its theme (which has been missed by many, it seems.) “Your last two words circled right here, ‘peril remains.’ Bob, why is this so important?” he asked.
“Well, because Trump is out there,” Woodward flatly replied. “Bob Costa and I think he’s going to run again. He clearly has support; some of the polling shows he would beat Biden. ”
“Now, Trump is out there, we have democracy — anyone can run for president — but we know what he did for four years,” Woodward continued. “And what he did is not worry enough about the people in the country, worried about his own political standing, his impulses, and I think the basic theme of our book is, his actions were not just a problem in the United States, it was a national security emergency.”
Costa supported his colleague’s assertion, explaining how the two of them “started off thinking it was a crisis, and we concluded based on our reporting it’s an emergency. That’s why the peril remains.”
After explaining how top cabinet officials openly worried about a right-wing coup, he continued. “You had the erosion of all the people around President Trump not corralling him in the presidency. That’s why we believe, based on our reporting, that the peril does remain. The system barely held together.” He then finished the rhetorical question, “Will it hold together again if presented with similar circumstances?”
Woodward is an expert on Trump by now, having interviewed the former president 18 times for his last book.
The clear theme of Peril is not a rehash or account of what transpired over the past year or so. It is a waving red flag designed to warn the electorate and chattering class that this story is far from over.
Watch above via CNN.
