In Obama’s shadow

Sure, incoming presidents deflect responsibility for certain problems to predecessors. But doing so nearly four years later? It’s sixth in our running reasons Donald Trump doesn’t deserve re-election. During Tuesday’s House Judiciary hearing, Attorney General Bill Barr was asked if President Trump was wrong back in March for refusing responsibility for coronavirus testing failures. Barr’s response, “The problem with the testing system was a function of President Obama’s mishandling at the CDC and efforts to centralize everything in the CDC.”

That’s been a Trump tactic for months — trying to hand blame for his cataclysmic pandemic response to the man out of office for three years. In April, Trump whined that “The last administration left us nothing. We started off with bad, broken tests, and obsolete tests.”

COVID-19 is a new pathogen and, obviously, old tests wouldn’t work. In fact, Obama did leave Trump a pandemic playbook and a task force — which Trump disbanded.

But Trump lays his historic failures on his predecessor.

Following George Floyd’s death, Trump claimed the Obama-Biden administration “never even tried to [address police reform] during their eight-year period.” Again, Obama’s Justice Department left detailed initiatives, which Trump dismantled.

Trump falsely claims that his family separation policy was started by Obama.

Trump blames Obamacare for prescription drugs’ high cost — when the opposite is true.

Trump claims the Maine fishing industry was “destroyed” by Obama, when it was hammered by Trump’s China trade war.

The head of the party of personal responsibility is a man who accepts none.