‘Leaders letting us down’ over COVID-19, says Barack Obama

Barack Obama says America’s response to the novel coronavirus shows many officials ‘aren’t even pretending to be in charge’.

‘Leave behind all the old ways of thinking that divide us,’ Barack Obama tells the High School Class of 2020 on Sunday. Picture: Getty Images

Former president Barack Obama has criticised leaders overseeing the US response to COVID-19, telling college graduates the pandemic shows many officials “aren’t even pretending to be in charge”.

Mr Obama’s comments on Sunday (AEST) in the online address were unexpectedly political, given the venue, and touched on current events beyond the virus and its ­social and economic impacts.

“More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing,” he told Show Me Your Walk, HBCU Edition, a two-hour event for students graduating from historically black colleges and universities broadcast on social media platforms.

“A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge.”

Later, during a second televised address for high school seniors, Mr Obama panned “so-called grown-ups, including some with fancy ­titles and important jobs” who do “what feels good, what’s convenient, what’s easy”.

“Which is why things are so screwed up,” he said. Mr Obama did not name President Donald Trump or any other federal or state officials in either of his ­appearances. But earlier this month, he harshly criticised Mr Trump’s handling of the pandemic as an “absolute chaotic disaster”.

The weekend remarks were the latest sign that Mr Obama intended to play an increasingly active role in the coming election. He has generally kept a low profile in the years since he left office, even as Mr Trump has disparaged him.

Mr Obama told supporters on Sunday’s call that he would be “spending as much time as necessary and campaigning as hard as I can” for Joe Biden, who served as his vice-president.

He also noted the February shooting death of Ahmaud ­Arbery, 25, who was killed while jogging on a residential street in Georgia.

“Let’s be honest, a disease like this just spotlights the underlying inequalities and extra burdens that black communities have historically had to deal with in this country,” Mr Obama said.

“Injustice like this isn’t new. What is new is that so much of your generation has woken up to the fact that the status quo needs fixing, that the old ways of doing things don’t work.”

AP