(Photo: REUTERS/Jim Young/File Photo)
Former United States President Barack Obama, during a private conference call with former members of his administration, lashed out at President Donald Trump's handling of the ongoing global health crisis, describing it as "an absolute chaotic disaster."
Obama made the comments in a phone call on Friday with 3,000 members of the Obama Alumni Association, in which the former commander in chief encouraged his former staffers to work for Joe Biden, who is trying to oust Trump in the upcoming polls.
Obama could also be heard on the call received by Yahoo News and published on Friday, questioning the Justice Department's attempt this week to drop charges against Trump's former national security advisor Michael Flynn, dismissing the decision as placing "our fundamental view of the rule of law is at risk."
While addressing the management of the crisis and the international response by the Trump administration, the former president talked about the relevance of the forthcoming presidential election and indicated an expanded role for himself. He also talked about a fight against growing long-term trends of "being selfish" and tribal disunity.
About 80,000 people have now died and the US has reported cases of more than 1.3 million - all of which are by far the largest in the world.
In March, several states adopted lockout measures but have now relaxed restrictions that require citizens to return to work. But health authorities caution this could lead to further spread of the virus.
Trump's crisis strategy has gone oscillating. He dismissed the threat in February, saying it would vanish but he admitted its seriousness by mid-March.
Obama has made infrequent critiques of Trump. He evidently took a dig at the initial skepticism of the coronavirus pandemic by Trump in late March.
"We have witnessed all too terribly the consequences of those who denied the warnings of a pandemic," Obama tweeted March 31, without directly naming Trump.
Obama weighed in on the government's response to the crisis in the form of warning about the effects of Trump's decision to loosen the Democratic President's fuel-efficiency requirements for fighting climate change.
Repeatedly the White House has justified Trump's management of the pandemic that claimed the lives of over 80,000 Americans.
But questions are being raised over a possible coronavirus outbreak inside the innermost circle of the White House after Katie Miller, the press secretary of the vice president, and the wife of one of Trump's senior advisors, Stephen Miller, tested positive for Covid-19.
