The Donald Trump Bob Woodward controversy stems from recorded interviews conducted by the veteran journalist for his 2020 book, 'Rage.' In the tapes, Trump admitted to knowing the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic as early as February while publicly minimizing the threat, famously stating, 'I wanted to always play it down.' This admission sparked a massive wave of memes, often contrasting his private knowledge with his public statements. Users utilize this template to highlight hypocrisy, intentional misinformation, or the duality of political rhetoric, often pairing the 'play it down' quote with various escalating crises or everyday situations where someone is clearly understating a disaster.