It's not uncommon for President Donald Trump to point to his predecessors when faced with criticism. The President has blamed former President Barack Obama's administration for everything from national stockpile shortages in the face of the pandemic to a wonky White House air conditioning system.
But a recent attempt by Trump to pass the buck to Obama and 2020 Democratic nominee Joe Biden fell somewhat flat.
Trump was asked at a White House round table about his oft-repeated claim that the only reason virus cases in the United States continue to soar is because the country is performing more tests. The reporter asked if he'd acknowledge that the increased cases were also due to the virus spreading.
Watch his response below.
"Biden & Obama stopped their testing ... I'm sure you don't want to report it" - Trump absurdly tries to blame Obama for problems w/ testing for Covid-19, which didn't exist until nearly 3 years after he left office. He then falsely suggests the 1918 flu pandemic started in 1917. pic.twitter.com/uXu4NT3sxt
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 13, 2020
Trump said:
"Biden and Obama stopped their testing. They just stopped it. You probably know that, I'm sure you don't wanna report it, but they stopped testing. Right in the middle they just went, 'no more testing.'"
At first, people thought the President was claiming that the Obama administration stopped testing while grappling with COVID-19, which hadn't existed at the time.
CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale elaborated on what Trump was likely alluding to.
People were still flummoxed at Trump's eagerness to divert attention to his predecessors even in a time of urgency.
Actually I think your interpretation is giving him too much credit. He was trying to throw heat off of himself by blaming his predecessor which he does every chance he gets even though it doesn't make sense.
— Gwen (@autonomy_6) July 14, 2020
Many are tired of trying to decipher Trump's diatribes.
It was unclear because Trump was completely incoherent and because he has made such claims in the past. We shouldn't have to interpret what he "meant".
— Diana Prince (@Diana_E_Prince) July 14, 2020
I think we are all done mind reading his word salad and would just like some competence and urgency applied to managing this pandemic. Unfortunately we might be waiting until January 2021.
— Mikah O'Mara (@MikahMiriam) July 14, 2020
I feel this is similar to when my 2yr old grandson says something only his mother can understand and I have to ask for the translation. Again, he's 2. A toddler.
— Molly (@mememoreme) July 14, 2020
Trump switches subjects and thoughts mid sentence as he's flighty and incapable of a complete thought if he believes he can confuse and muck up the media. But we can't let him get away with it. Thanks Daniel!
— juneynyc (@juney9800) July 14, 2020
The President has tweeted or retweeted about President Obama over three thousand times.
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