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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 Saturday.
Obama has stayed out of the fray even when Trump blamed him and his Democratic administration for a variety of problems related to having enough supplies to fight the pandemic that has killed more than 75,000 Americans.
But in his call Friday with 3,000 members of the Obama Alumni Association, people who served in his administration, Obama urged his supporters to back Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who is trying to overthrow Trump in the election of the November 3.
The content of the call was first reported by Yahoo News. A source familiar with the call confirmed them to Reuters.
Obama said the election “is very important because what we are going to fight is not just a particular individual or a political party.”
“What we are fighting against is against these long-term trends where being selfish, being tribal, being divided, and seeing others as enemies has become a stronger drive in American life,” he said.
He said this is one reason why “the response to this global crisis has been so anemic and irregular.”
“It would have been bad even with the best of governments. It has been an absolutely chaotic mess when that mindset – of ‘what’s in it for me’ and ‘bugging everyone else’ – when that mindset is operational in our government,” Obama said.
“So I, by the way, am going to spend as much time as necessary and campaign as much 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 “is unprecedented” and has saved American lives.
She recalled the Ukraine investigation launched by Democrats in the United States House of Representatives last year that led to the passage of impeachment articles against Trump. The Republican-led Senate acquitted Trump earlier this year.
“As Democrats were pursuing a false witch hunt against President Trump, President Trump was shutting down travel from China. As Democrats encouraged mass meetings, President Trump was rolling out PPE, fans, and evidence across the country,” he said. .
National polls show a tight race between Trump and Biden with six months to go. Biden leads in various battlefield states.
(Report by Steve Holland; Chris Reese edition)
