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Obama Says U.S. Lacks Leadership on Coronavirus in Two Commencement Speeches

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Former President Barack Obama gave two virtual graduation speeches in which he criticized (without using his name) President Donald Trump’s leadership during the current coronavirus pandemic. Highlights from the New York Times:

Without the springtime rituals of traditional graduation ceremonies, former President Barack Obama delivered two virtual commencement addresses on Saturday, urging millions of high school and college graduates to fearlessly carve a path and “to seize the initiative” at a time when he says the nation’s leaders have fumbled the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The speeches, aired hours apart, combined the inspirational advice given to graduates — build community, do what is right, be a leader — with pointed criticism of the handling of an outbreak that has killed more than 87,000 Americans and crippled much of the economy.

“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,” Mr. Obama said in his first address, directed at graduates of historically black colleges and universities. “A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge.”

Although Mr. Obama did not mention President Trump by name, some saw his comments as criticism of his successor.

The latter paragraph is the Times being the Times. No, it isn’t just “some saw.” It is clearly a swipe at Trump without naming him. After years of being used as a political bogeyman by Trump (starting when he suggested Obama was born in Kenya) in recent months Obama has started to speak out and he’s expected to campaign for Joe Biden, if Biden as expected gets the Democratic Presidential nomination.

Some more from his speech:

In speeches that spoke to social inequities, Mr. Obama said the pandemic was a wake-up call for young adults, showing them the importance of good leadership and that “the old ways of doing things just don’t work.”

“Doing what feels good, what’s convenient, what’s easy — that’s how little kids think,” he said during a prime time special for high school seniors. “Unfortunately, a lot of so-called grown-ups, including some with fancy titles and important jobs, still think that way — which is why things are so screwed up. I hope that instead, you decide to ground yourself in values that last, like honesty, hard work, responsibility, fairness, generosity, respect for others.”

And:

Mr. Obama’s comments were one of his few public addresses to a national audience during the outbreak, and he said a leadership void had created a clear mandate for the graduates: “If the world’s going to get better, it’s going to be up to you,” he said.

Read the Full Transcript of Obama’s H.B.C.U. Commencement Speech

Here’s a video with his full remarks: