Former President Obama slams Trump as 'jealous of COVID's media coverage' amid record cases
Former President Barack Obama blasted President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting economic collapse Tuesday, saying the president wouldn’t have to complain about news coverage if he handled the crisis better.
Trump had tweeted before his predecessor’s speech in Orlando that the media is “going full on Covid, Covid, Covid. We are rounding the turn.”
But Obama suggested the media would cover the pandemic differently if Trump had done more to prevent 226,000 American deaths and 8.7 million U.S. cases.
“What’s Trump’s closing argument? That people are too focused on COVID!” Obama said at a campaign rally for his former vice president, Joe Biden. “He’s complaining, he’s jealous of COVID’s media coverage. If he had been focused on COVID from the beginning, cases would not be reaching new record highs.”
Obama also took aim at Trump telling “60 Minutes” on CBS, for a program broadcast Sunday, that he wouldn’t have changed much in how he responded to the pandemic. He has promoted the development of therapeutics and vaccines, after halting travel from China in January.
"Really? Not much?" Obama asked, incredulously. "Maybe you shouldn't have gotten on TV and suggested we might inject bleach to cure COVID?"
Obama’s campaign appearance followed speeches Saturday to Miami and Wednesday to Philadelphia. Florida is a swing state that Trump won in 2016, and the corridor along Interstate 4 between Orlando and Tampa is the most fought-over part of the state.
Obama, who lived eight years in the White House, also noted that Trump got infected with COVID-19 and was hospitalized, despite living in the controlled environment in the executive mansion.
“You can take some preventive measures in the White House to avoid getting sick,” Obama said. “Except this guy can’t seem to do it.”
Obama, the first Black president, also ridiculed Trump’s comment in the Thursday debate that he was the best president for Black Americans since Abraham Lincoln, which drew boos from the crowd in 273 cars at the drive-in event.
"His son-in-law says Black folks have to want to be successful," Obama said of comments Monday on Fox & Friends by Jared Kushner, a senior White House aide and Trump’s son-in-law. "That's the problem. Who are these folks? What history books do they read? Who do they talk to?"
Obama blended scathing criticism with humor about how Trump complains about the amount of news coverage.
"Our current president, he whines that '60 Minutes' is too tough,” Obama said. “You think he's gonna stand up to dictators? He thinks Lesley Stahl is a bully.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Obama blasts Trump over handling COVID-19 pandemic, media complaints
