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In leaked call, Obama describes Trump handling of virus as chaotic

Published 05/09/2020, 02:33 PM
Updated 05/09/2020, 02:35 PM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during an Obama Foundation event in Kuala Lumpur

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former President Barack Obama described President Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic as "chaotic" in a conference call with former members of his administration, a source said on Saturday.

Obama has largely kept out of the fray even as Trump has blamed him and his Democratic administration for a variety of problems related to having sufficient supplies to battle the pandemic that has killed more than 75,000 Americans.

But in his call on Friday with 3,000 members of the Obama Alumni Association, people who served in his administration, Obama urged his supporters to get behind Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who is trying to unseat Trump in the Nov. 3 election.

The contents of the call were first reported by Yahoo (NASDAQ:AABA) News. A source familiar with the call confirmed them to Reuters.

Obama said the election "is so important because what we're going to be battling is not just a particular individual or a political party."

"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," he said.

He said this is one 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," Obama said.

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"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," he said.

Obama's office declined to comment.

White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said Trump's response to the coronavirus "has been unprecedented" and has saved American lives.

She harked back to the Ukraine inquiry launched by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives last year that led to House passage of articles of impeachment against Trump. The Republican-led Senate acquitted Trump early this year.

"While Democrats were pursuing a sham witch hunt against President Trump, President Trump was shutting down travel from China. While Democrats encouraged mass gatherings, President Trump was deploying PPE, ventilators, and testing across the country," she said.

National polls show a tight race between Trump and Biden with six months to go until the election. Biden leads in several battleground states.

Latest comments

Trump handling of cronavirus is a clear indication of his incompetency. Its baffling that a superpower like USA is strugling to contain this virus , when there are many other countries that have cobtained it .
Let's all remember the H1N1 virus that happened in 2009, OBOZOs time. He didn't address it for over 6 months and over 100000 U.S. citizens died.
please look up the stats & do a side-by-side. Obama had no forewarning like Trump, yet immediately organized, where Trump literally did nothing but blame people. Trump dismantled the very organization set up for exactly this scenario. Also , your number is very wrong in all aspects:There were 12,469 US deaths, (not your purported 100,000)April 12, 2009 to April 10, 2010, there were 60.8 million H1N1 cases in the world with 274,304 hospitalizations and 12,469 deaths in the U.S. They also estimate that worldwide, up to 575,400 people died. So we had 1 US death per 5000 cases. Now go compare Trump’s Covid-19 numbers, & realize they are still growing.
nobody wants to know what lying db thinks...he belongs in jail, period
Its easy to criticize until you walk in someone else’s shoes. Our President has been deficated to getting Americans through these tough times, working tirelessly for us.
talking about OBOZO right???
unefucated
Bill Docauer :please look up the stats & do a side-by-side. Obama had no forewarning like Trump, yet immediately organized, where Trump literally did nothing but blame people. Trump dismantled the very organization set up for exactly this scenario. Also , your number is very wrong in all aspects:There were 12,469 US deaths, (not your purported 100,000)April 12, 2009 to April 10, 2010, there were 60.8 million H1N1 cases in the world with 274,304 hospitalizations and 12,469 deaths in the U.S. They also estimate that worldwide, up to 575,400 people died. So we had 1 US death per 5000 cases. Now go compare Trump’s Covid-19 numbers, & realize they are still growing
The WORSE Fake Pres. exist in the WH at current ! Orange Bigot Sponge Bob !!!!
President Trump works tirelessly for Americans. He is truly the best president ee have ever had. He is hated because he does not cater to the corruption in Washington.
you mean subzero
Netflix is propping him up to keep him relevant. Obama is a crook and almost ruined American values by pursuing social engineering agenda, something he is still pursuing through Netflix
And that is the truth. He is now trying to do damage control, because the truth is being exposed.
You are so right.
worst president in history speaks like he matters. he is an enemy of the state. fight the globalists.
Yes, Obama IS the worst president in history next to Bill Clinton. Its easy ti criticize President Trump. Obama is all words, constantly using them to divide America. He is the true tribal racist.
Why are they trying to promote Obamas opinion like it has meaning? He was a terrible president and lead a corrupt democratic party.
Leaked call my ***** Thanks to this President who despite having the entire Democratic party as well as the media, put together the best group of professionals together to handle this epidemic, while at the same time keeping the American people informed. We are lucky to have him!
What Obama is saying, roughly, is that a good president will use COMMON SENSE and conduct himself to display common sense. A president who is uninformed, lies, can not provide his tax returns to prove he promotes TRANSPARENCY and a presudent who favors himself and his goals over the population is obviously not what America and the world needs. Mental agility is required of any president: to adapt to constantly changing conditions, to work as part of an i terdependant team, and to fit into the same formula as that promoted for everyone (i.e. wearing a mask). Trump does not have the necessary mental agility. Kofveve was an early proof.
well said. incompetent.
suppose a Kenyan that cannot prove he has an American BIRTH CERTIFICATE is okay?? Go get an education and learn
We need Obama and Joe back to repair all the damage Trump and his Admins did.
Said the paid Chinese CCP Troll. Be on notice that the CCP is supporting Joe Biden - wonder why.
snow flake
That is true. USA was not prepare for it. When it hit usa, nobody knows ehat to do. In Trump defense, the west doesnt know what to do except lock down.
The USA stockmarket was consolidating for 17 years before 2016 November. A breakout from a consolidation is traditionally a strong bull market. The setup for the bull market was a gift by prior presidents for Trump. Any cl'own with one finger on the money supply button could ride the wave higher. Trump is not the creator of the bull market before covid
Market crashed under Bush. Then 8 years of an historic 11 year bull run under Obama. 3 years Trump & now this.
Obama lead the nation out of the last GOP disaster caused by Bush and set it all up for Trump. who had now taken the economy back to far worse then pre Obama levels. It will take another democrat to get this country going again. Trump always wants to be greater than Obama maybe he should try to half as good as Obama and maybe he would start to get a little respect.
keep on believing those FALSE talking points. That's all the leftists got left.
22 January 2020, Trump discussed covid 19 "we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.” Now we, the USA have 40,000 deaths.
75000
Do you want me to put here the "good results" of the leftist European governments? Spain, Italy, Sweden, France?
Obama administration forgot their ultimate support to china ,? See were we are now cos of them !!
You probably forget TPP, but Trump destroyed it for China favor
Obama will be arrested soon
What you are calling "espionage" was not on a political rival. It was on one of the members of the rival's campaign team who had suspicious connections to Russia. Looking into that possibility was not a crime, and was done for the security of the country. Meanwhile, don't forget that Trump actively tried to solicit dirt on his political rival from a foreign power, which amounts to inviting a foreign power to meddle in a federal election. Something which is actually a crime. Trump is the one who actually is at risk of criminal charges if he doesn't get re-elected.
 Except that there were no "suspicious connections to Russia." That's the big point of the recent reveals regarding Flynn! Where have you been? And they constructively spied on Trump by spying on people working for his campaign, with fabricated justifications. No way around it, this was espionage on a political rival. Sorry, Obama turned out to be corrupt as h311.
more unn
Two party system is bought and paid for. End the fed. I’d rather vote for a cheese sandwich as my president. We need a JFK again. Someone who’s willing to risk their life to end the fed.
If it was not for the fed unemployment would be 50% and the depression would lock like a booming economy compared to now with the fed support.
Democrats could nuke the United States and they'd still blame Trump and conservatives for something 😂
Becaus Hillary would have been oh so much better? You’ve got to be kidding.
She wasn't mentioned
LOL chaotic is a MAJOR understatement I never witnessed so such incompetence in my life
 China's response was anything but chaotic. The centrally-planned and governed nation very effectively shut down all evidence of coronavirus spreading for months.
cover the evidence of leaked from the lab
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