US response to crisis shows lack of leadership, says Obama

Washington, May 17

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 90,229, which is the highest in the world.

Obama said the virus outbreak exposed failings in the country’s leadership. “This pandemic has 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 universities. “If the world is going to get better, it’s going to be up to you,” he added. — PTI