On this Monday,  I am exhausted from reading Bob Woodward’s book about President Trump. It’s not a terrible book but it’s unfair on many pages.

 

Mr. Woodward is a shrewd reporter who divides the book into two sections. The first tells the stories of three men Mr. Trump fired, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, former Secretary of Defense James Mattis, and former National Intelligence Director Dan Coats.  

 

All three talked to Woodward and think ill of President Trump, a demanding and unpredictable boss who treated the men callously at times.

 

So, the book is stacked against the President from the jump.

 

After Mr. Trump is severely criticized, the second half of the book gives him a chance to reply. So, he’s on the defensive in all of the interviews with Woodward.

 

It is hard to score points on defense.

 

Woodward also tosses in his own commentary and it’s almost always negative. On page 286, he writes this about the President’s Covid briefings, quote: “The rambling, often defensive and angry monologues eroded confidence in his grasp of the problem and leadership.”  Unquote.

 

That’s Woodward’s opinion. It’s not fact-based reporting.

 

The book also pretty much ignores the bogus and brutally unfair Russian-collusion situation which heavily influenced how Mr. Trump conducted himself in public and private.

 

That’s a huge omission and one that speaks directly to the basic slant of the Woodward exposition.

 

Summing up, this book is aimed at folks who already despise the President.

 

And that’s the fact-based truth.

  

Tonight on the No Spin News, we’ll have more on this, and an honest appraisal of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. See you beginning at six.