Obama Attacks 'Disaster' Trump for Making America 'Tribal, Selfish & Divided'
Leaked audio shows ex-president attacking POTUS over coronavirus response
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Barack Obama has launched a vicious attack against President Donald Trump, claiming his response to the coronavirus crisis has been an "absolute chaotic disaster."
The ex-POTUS also accused the American public of becoming "selfish, tribal and divided" because of President Trump's leadership.
Obama's comments were exposed in a leaked audio file from web call the former president recently held with ex-members of his administration.
During the call, Obama rants about Trump, accusing him and his allies of exacerbating "tribal" tensions across the country.
The supposed "selfish" attitude of the American people has hampered the effort to reduce the total number of cases nationwide, according to Obama.
Audio of Obama's blasting comments was obtained by Yahoo News.
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"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 said.
"And by the way, we’re seeing that internationally as well.
"It’s part of the reason why the response to this global crisis has been so anemic and spotty.
"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."
"That’s why, I, by the way, am going to be spending as much time as necessary and campaigning as hard as I can for Joe Biden," Obama declared.
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Save for campaign speeches during the 2018 mid-term elections, the former president has largely been quiet since Trump took office and replaced him after defeating Hillary Clinton in 2016, according to The Daily Mail.
Obama’s comments on the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic were a much sharper attack on his successor.
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Last month, Obama offered veiled criticism of Trump over the COVID-19 crisis, claiming that there was no "coherent national plan" to address the outbreak.
"While we continue to wait for a coherent national plan to navigate this pandemic, states like Massachusetts are beginning to adopt their own public health plans to combat this virus––before it’s too late," the former president tweeted.
While we continue to wait for a coherent national plan to navigate this pandemic, states like Massachusetts are beginning to adopt their own public health plans to combat this virus––before it's too late. https://t.co/Eb2Hz8H8vU
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 22, 2020
Obama used the tweet to issue an attack on the president but also praised Massachusetts for its response to the pandemic with a New Yorker article titled: It’s Not Too Late to Go on Offense Against the Coronavirus.
As several states continue to lament that they do not have the supplies to administer enough testing, some have taken matters into their own hands.
Obama also attacked his successor at the end of March as Trump signed the CARES Act to provide $2.2 trillion in economic stimulus and relief for Americans and small businesses.
"We’ve seen all too terribly the consequences of those who denied warnings of a pandemic," the two-term Democrat tweeted last month.
