Home ›› 10 May 2020 ›› World Biz
Former US President Barack Obama has sharply scrutinized his successor, Donald Trump, over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, calling it "an absolute chaotic disaster" in a leaked private conference call on Friday.
Obama has said he wants to play a larger role supporting Joe Biden in the presidential election in November.
His new remarks were made in a call meant to encourage former staff to work for Biden's campaign, CNN reports.
Trump's approach to government was partly to blame for the US response to coronavirus, Obama said.
"It would have been bad even with the best of government," he was quoted as saying in the call. "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 operationalised in our government."
Barack Obama also strongly criticised the decision to drop criminal charges against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn during the Trump-Russia investigation.
Over 77,000 people in the US are now dead, with 1.2 million confirmed cases - both by far the highest in the world. Many states implemented lockdown measures in March to contain the spread of the deadly virus, but have now relaxed or lifted restrictions to enable citizens to return to work.
(Source: BBC)
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