Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Obama: Trump is jealous of Covid’s media coverage
BARACK Obama has lashed Donald Trump’s response to the pandemic – saying the President was “jealous of Covid’s media coverage”.
He i ssued a scathing rebuke to Trump’s bid at recent rallies to downplay the crisis, which has left 226,000 dead and 8.8 million infected in the US as cases continue to soar.
Urging voters to turn out “like never before” to back his ex-vice President Joe Biden at next week’s election and oust Trump, he s a i d: “He’s jealous of Covid’s media coverage.
“He’s turned the White House into a hot zone.
“The pandemic would have been challenging for any president, but the idea that thi s Whit e House has done anything but completely screw this up is nonsense.
“We cannot afford four more years of this.”
Speaking in Orlando, Fl o r i d a , h e s a i d the former Apprentice star’s handling of the crisis had ruined the economy he inherited.
He said: “We cannot afford this kind of incompetence and disinterest.
“We have a president who li es multiple times a day. He hasn’t shown any interest in doing the work or helping anybody but himself and his friends or treating the presidency as anything more than a reality show that can give him the attention that he craves.” Polls have shown a razor-thin margin between Biden and Trump in Florida – a critical battleground state.
Already 6.4 million Floridians have voted by post or cast ballots in unprecedented early numbers due to the virus.
On his second visit to the state in four days, Obama urged voters ahead of next Tuesday’s election: “Don’t wait.
“Put it in the mail or drop it off at a dropbox location today. Don’t take any chances, just get it done.”
Yesterday ’s socially distanced, invitation-only event was in stark contrast to the freefor-all rally held by Trump in Orlando two weeks ago, when thousands of supporters stood side-by-side without masks. Trump tweeted yesterday : “Obama is drawing VERY small ( t i ny) n u mb e r s o f people. Biden is drawing almost no one.
“We are draw ing tens of thousands of people. You’ll see that again today.
“The Great Red Wave is coming.”
It came as the President took a victory lap after Amy Coney Barrett, his pick for the Supreme Court, was confirmed, tipping America’s highest court to the Right for years to come.
A Yougov poll for Betfair found 80% of Brits would vote for Biden if they had the chance and only 20% for Trump.
Researchers found just 38% of Brexit voters would vote for the President.