Trump Reacts to Obama's Comments on COVID-19 Response: 'He Was An Incompetent President'

Sputnik news agency and radio 19:56 GMT 17.05.2020

The former US president earlier expressed dissatisfaction with the government's handling of the novel coronavirus disease, though he avoided naming specific politicians he was unhappy with.

President Donald Trump has dismissed Obama's recent criticism of the US administration's response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

"Look, he was an incompetent president. That's all I can say. Grossly incompetent", Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday when asked to reflect on Obama's comments.

He also praised the government's efforts to curb the virus spread in the US, saying that huge progress has been made.

"We did a lot of terrific meetings, tremendous progress is being made on many fronts, including coming up with a cure for this horrible plague that has beset our country", Trump said.

During a virtual address to graduates at historically black colleges on Saturday, Obama said, apparently referring to the government, that "a lot of them aren't even pretending to be in charge". Earlier, the ex-president called the government's efforts against COVID-19 "an absolute chaotic disaster".

Trump, however, has repeatedly stressed that the measures taken by the administration prevented the US from having a much higher fatality rate from COVID-19.

The United States has been the global leader in terms of both coronavirus tally and deaths. As of today, the US has registered over 1.4 million cases, including more than 89,200 fatalities, the US-based Johns Hopkins University count says.