Barack Obama takes a jab at US President Donald Trump

Barack Obama takes a jab at US President Donald Trump

Says he thinks like a kid & ‘that’s why the country is so screwed up’

AgenciesUpdated: Sunday, May 17, 2020, 10:47 PM IST
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Barack Obama | PIC: AFP

Former President Barack Obama on Saturday criticized President Donald Trump in all but name as he gave a televised commencement address for high school seniors.

Obama's message to graduating high school students came at the end of an hourlong television special.

According to Daily Mail reports, Obama panned 'so-called grown-ups, including some with fancy titles and important jobs' who do 'what feels good, what's convenient, what's easy.'

'That's how little kids think,' he added, 'which is why things are so screwed up,' reports Daily Mail.

For the second time in a week, former US president Barack Obama has made a veiled attack on his successor Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus crisis, saying the pandemic that had shown that many officials "aren't even pretending to be in charge." Obama criticised the handling of the coronavirus pandemic without mentioning President Trump, a Republican, by name, just a week after privately criticising the administration's response to the COVID-19.

The total death toll in the US due to the coronavirus now stands at over 88,000, which is the highest anywhere in the world. The country has over 1.46 million cases of confirmed COVID-19 infections.

In his speech to graduates from several dozen historically black colleges and universities, Obama said the COVID-19 outbreak had exposed failings in the country's leadership.

"This pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they're doing. A lot of them aren't even pretending to be in charge," Obama, a Democrat, said during a virtual commencement address for historically black colleges and universities.

"If the world is going to get better, it's going to be up to you," he added.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Saturday highlighted President Trump's work, saying his "unprecedented coronavirus response has saved lives." Obama then later on Saturday, during the "Graduate Together" special hosted by LeBron James, said, "You know, all those adults that you used to think were in charge and knew what they were doing, turns out they don't have all the answers. A lot of them aren't even asking the right questions." Obama, who was the first African-American US president, had privately criticised the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus crisis as "an absolute chaotic disaster" during a phone call earlier this month with former staffers and administration alumnus.

Obama, 58, also spoke at length about the impact the pandemic is having on black communities in the US.

"A disease like this just spotlights the underlying inequalities and extra burdens that black communities have historically had to deal with in this country," he said. African-Americans make up a disproportionate number of coronavirus deaths and hospitalisations in the US.

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