After facing criticism for reportedly downplaying the dangers of coronavirus, Donald Trump attempted to compare himself to the British wartime prime minister Winston Churchill but managed to get it completely wrong.

In a new book written by journalist Bob Woodward, which documents a series of interviews between him and the president between December and July, Trump is alleged to have been fully aware of how dangerous coronavirus was but downplayed it in order to not 'create a panic.' Trump reportedly said:

You just breathe the air and that's how it's passed. And so that's a very tricky one. That's a very delicate one. It's also more deadly than even your strenuous flues.

I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic.

In an attempt to downplay this, Trump attempted to compare his words to that of Churchill in World War II, claiming the hailed prime minister for telling people to remain calm. Speaking at a rally in Michigan on Thursday, the POTUS said:

When Hitler was bombing London, Churchill, great leader, would oftentimes go to a roof in London and speak. 

And he always spoke with confidence. He said we have to show calmness. No, we did it the right way and we’ve done a job like nobody.

However, it soon became apparent that Trump had gotten his quote and facts about Churchill completely wrong. As many pointed out Churchill was fairly blunt and didn't downplay the seriousness of the war to the British people at all and almost did the complete opposite of telling people to remain calm.

Also at his Michigan rally, Trump falsely attributed another quote to the British government in World War II. He said:

As the British government advised the British people in the face of World War II, keep calm and carry on. That’s what I did.

ABC News report that the slogan was actually going to be used before WWII as a means to keep the public calm and distract them from the prospect of war. However, it was never actually used and only became well known after a poster bearing the slogan was found in recent years and was soon plastered across every piece of merchandise imaginable.

Oh dear, Donald. Time to get your head back in those history books.

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