'He is the wrong man for the job': Woodward defends book in clash with Fox News host

'The evidence is overwhelming. It's one of the saddest moments in this country to have a leader who has failed to tell the truth’

Bob Woodward defended sitting on revelations of Donald Trump's coronavirus response for release in his new book Rage, saying the president is "the wrong man for the job".

In an interview with Fox News host Dana Perino on Thursday, Mr Woodward said he held back Mr Trump's private comments that coronavirus was deadly because he thought the president was specifically referencing its impact on China.

Excerpts promoting the book which began publishing after Labor Day showed Mr Trump publicly played down the seriousness of the coronavirus in what he maintains was an attempt to prevent panic, "keep calm and carry on".

Asked if he feels any responsibility to have reported Mr Trump's comments earlier in the pandemic, Mr Woodward said he only learned in May what the president was talking about during their 28 January interview.

"I did not know about that meeting at that point. I – if there was at any point, Dana, here where I could have printed something in The Washington Post – I have access to the editor, Marty Baron, directly, his subeditors, if I think some story should be printed," Mr Woodward said.

"All the discussion was about China. And, in May, I learned the truth. Quite frankly, when I learned it, I was shocked that the president did not step up in the opportunities he had, like the State of the Union message."

Mr Trump has seized on the seven-month delay in Mr Woodward's reporting as an illustration that the veteran journalist didn't believe the comments were significant at the time.

Mr Woodward interviewed the president 19 times, as well as several White House officials, for his second book on the Trump administration. In conclusion, he makes the assessment that Mr Trump is unfit for office, but also says he's not endorsing Joe Biden as he hasn't reported on him in-depth.

When Perino questioned the journalistic credibility of making an assessment, Mr Woodward said he learned journalism from former Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee, whose rule was to play it straight, play it aggressively and not be in the political game.

"Dana if you’d been able to read the book, the evidence is overwhelming. It's one of the saddest moments in this country to have a leader who has failed to tell the truth, who has failed to warn the people," he said.

"I mean look at this, he downplayed it, he up played it, the confusion in the message for somebody trying to figure this out – should I send my school, can I go to the grocery store, what's the mess… the president has that megaphone and people look to him as the one who is going to say, 'here's the reality’. And if you distort the reality you have failed in your job and you are the wrong man for that job."