Obama: Trump’s coronavirus response has been ‘an absolute chaotic disaster’

During a private call this Friday night with former members of his administration, Barack Obama tore into the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, according to sources familiar with the matter speaking to CNN.

The remarks are the strongest critique of President Trump and his administration Obama has yet given, and the call, according to CNN, was meant to rally Obama loyalists behind Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign for president.

“This election that’s coming up — on every level — is so important because what we’re going to be battling is not just a particular individual or a political party,” Obama said. “What we’re fighting against is these long-term trends in which being selfish, being tribal, being divided, and seeing others as an enemy — that has become a stronger impulse in American life.”

Obama then ripped the Trump administration’s “chaotic disaster” of a response to the outbreak.

“It’s part of the reason why the response to this global crisis has been so anemic and spotty,” Obama said. “It would have been bad even with the best of governments. It has been an absolute chaotic disaster when that mindset — of ‘what’s in it for me’ and ‘to heck with everybody else’ — when that mindset is operationalized in our government.”

Obama’s comments were first reported by Yahoo News which obtained an audio recording of the call.

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.