Former U.S. President Barack Obama has sharply criticized the way the administration of incumbent President Donald Trump has dealt with the pandemic of the novel coronavirus outbreak, describing it as an "absolute chaotic disaster," according to Sky News Arabia.
Obama's criticism of Donald Trump came during a private call with employees who worked with his administration in the White House, which lasted for about half an hour, with the aim of providing support to the Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden, for the American presidency, according to the CNN.
“The upcoming elections are very important at all levels because we will not only face a person or a political party,” Obama said.
He pointed out that the real opponent is “long-term tendencies” such as “selfishness, tribalism, pision and believing that all opponents are enemies,” which have become major characteristics of the “American life.”
“What we’re fighting against is these long-term trends in which being selfish, being tribal, being pided, and seeing others as an enemy — that has become a stronger impulse in American life. 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,” Obama said, according to Yahoo News.
“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,” he said.
The phone call also addressed the controversial decision taken by the U.S. Attorney General to withdraw the indictment of Michael Flynn, the former Trump advisor who was pursued for concealing contacts with a Russian diplomat.
White House Responds Indirectly to Obama
The Associated Press reported on Sunday that more than 78,400 people with COVID-19 have died in the United States and more than 1.3 million people have tested positive, according to the latest estimates from the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
“President Trump’s coronavirus response has been unprecedented and saved American lives,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said.
“While Democrats were pursuing a sham witch hunt against President Trump, President Trump was shutting down travel from China.”
A few days ago, Trump, said that the novel coronavirus crisis is worse than the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City.
Trump: COVID-19 Worse Than 9/11
In the Oval Bureau in Washington, Trump said that the COVID-19 crisis is “worse” than the surprise attack by Japan in 1941 on the Pearl Harbor military base in the Hawaiian Islands, according to the French Press News Agency.
[caption id="attachment_126203" align="aligncenter" width="780"]
U.S. President Donald Trump[/caption]
“This should not have happened,” added Trump who faces unprecedented challenges due to the novel coronavirus crisis.
The attacks of September 11 killed nearly three thousand people, while the health crisis killed more than 72,000 people due to complications of the “COVID-19”.
The New York Times reported that the U.S. president confirmed the continuation of the novel coronavirus crisis cell process responsible for the coronavirus crisis in the country indefinitely, after the United States became the most affected country by the virus in terms of the number of infections and deaths.
Trump’s reassurance came after the U.S. Vice President, Mike Pence, signaled the end of the crisis cell, by the end of this month, May, in a step that would pave the way for a return to normal life without health restrictions.
The U.S. president has been facing criticism for his defense of reopening the economy, despite the absence of significant progress in containing the pandemic, despite opposition from experts and health officials.
Follow the latest news on Google News
