McConnell: Obama should have "kept his mouth shut" [View all]

[Takket]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/11/politics/mitch-mcconnell-barack-obama-coronavirus-response/index.html

NN)Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday slammed former President Barack Obama for criticizing the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic during a private call last week, asserting that he "should have kept his mouth shut."

"I think it's a little bit classless, frankly, to critique an administration that comes after you," McConnell told President Donald Trump's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, during a Trump campaign live stream. "You had your shot, you were there for eight years. I think the tradition that the Bush's set up -- of not critiquing the president who comes after you -- is a good tradition."

His comments come after Obama described the Trump administration's coronavirus response "an absolute chaotic disaster" during a private call on Friday with people who worked for him in the White House. The critique marked a rare break in custom for Obama who has occasionally criticized Trump -- such as when he ended the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program and in the wake of the President's first travel ban executive order.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has had a years-long fixation with Obama that predates his presidential campaign and has repeatedly disparaged his predecessor with unfounded conspiracy theories.