Washington - Former US president Barack Obama on Tuesday
blasted the "shambolic, disorganized, mean-spirited approach to
governance over the last couple of years" as he took part in the
first joint 2020 election event with presumptive Democratic nominee
Joe Biden.
In the address, part of a virtual fundraiser which some 175,000
people signed up for, pool reports cited Obama as blasting "a White
House enabled by Republicans in Congress and a media structure ...
[which] has gone at the very foundations of who we are and who we
should be.
"That suggests facts don't matter, science doesn't matter. That
suggests that a deadly disease is fake news. That sees the Justice
Department as simply an extension and arm of the personal concerns of
the president.
"That actively promotes division. And considers some people in this
country more real as Americans than others," Obama continued,
according to pool reports.
The former president, who did not name his successor Donald Trump or
specific US officials, dug deep as he said that while he disagreed
with his Republican predecessor George W Bush "on a whole host of
issues" he "still had a basic regard for the rule of law and the
importance of our institutions."
Obama went on to praise the "Great Awakening" going on in the US,
particularly among younger people."
"[They] are saying not only are they fed up with the shambolic,
disorganized, mean-spirited approach to governance that we've seen
over the last couple of years but more than that are eager to take on
some of the core challenges that have been facing this country for
centuries."
The virtual event raised a "remarkable" 7.6 million dollars for
Biden's campaign, pool reports cited the candidate as saying in hist
opening remarks.
Since leaving the White House in early 2017, Obama had largely
refrained from criticizing the Trump administration, following a
convention among former US presidents.
But he has changed his tune over the past couple of months, after
officially endorsing his former vice president in the race for the
White House.
The popular former president took aim at how officials have been
dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, again without mentioning Trump
by name, in two separate speeches to college and high school
graduates in May.