Former US president
Barack Obama alleged his successor Donald Trump will only help himself and his wealthy
friends upon re-election. He launched a scathing attack on the Republican for
not having a plan to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Campaigning
for his former number two and the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden
and his running mate Kamala Harris, Obama held a drive-in rally in Miami in the
battleground state of Florida on Saturday, PTI reported.

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Addressing the event, Obama claimed that Trump lacked empathy for the average
American and only sought re-election “to help himself” and his wealthy friends,
while stating that the Biden-Harris administration are contesting the election “for
you and us.”

“They’re
not going to surround themselves with hacks and lobbyists. They’re going to
surround themselves with people who care about you. That, more than anything,
is what separates them from their opponents. They actually care about
Americans, even the ones who aren’t voting for them,” Obama said.

He said
that Florida has the highest enrollment of any state in the country and that
Miami Dade has the highest enrollment in Florida, adding Florida has the
biggest stake in making sure those protections stay in place.

“We have
got a POTUS who actually suggested selling Puerto Rico. Believe it or not, it
could’ve been worse. He once asked our national security officials if he could
nuke hurricanes. I mean, at least he didn’t do that. A nuclear hurricane seems
like it would have been bad,” Obama said.

“I’ve sat
in the Oval Office with both of the men who are running for president and they
are very different people. You know, Donald Trump, I knew he wasn’t going to
embrace my vision, I knew he wasn’t going to continue my policies, but I did
hope that for the country’s sake he would have shown at least a little bit of
interest in taking the job seriously. That’s not how it worked out,” he added.

Obama
criticised Trump for walking out of his interview with reporter Lesley Stahl of
CBS News.

“He
got mad and walked out of the 60 Minutes interview. He thought the questions
were too tough. If he can’t answer a tough question like ‘what would you like
to do in your second term,’ then we can’t give him a second term. When 60
Minutes and Lesley Stahl are too tough for you, you ain’t all that tough,”
he said.

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“He
was asked ‘What is your new plan for the next phase of COVID?’ Which is a
pretty good question considering we just saw the highest number of cases spike
up yesterday. So you’d think he’d be ready for a response. Instead, he just
said it wasn’t his fault and he didn’t have (a plan). He doesn’t have a plan,
he doesn’t even acknowledge the reality,” Obama claimed.

Trump
complained about being asked tough questions . The president cried foul about
the interview on Tuesday, before releasing it on Facebook on Thursday.

Responding
to Obama, Trump, in a tweet, later said that no one is showing up for the
former US president.

“Nobody
is showing up for Obama’s hate laced speeches. 47 people! No energy, but still
better than Joe! he said.

Obama
claimed that his administration left the White House a pandemic playbook that
showed them how to respond before a virus reached the US shores.

Also Read: Trump will never say ‘Black Lives Matter’: Harris flays President over white supremacism

“It
must be lost along with the Republican healthcare plan. We can’t find it. Eight
months into this pandemic, new cases are breaking records. Donald Trump isn’t
suddenly going to protect all of us. He can’t even take the basic steps to
protect himself, he said.

“Florida
man wouldn’t even do this stuff. Why are we accepting it from the president of
the United States? It’s not normal behaviour, he said.

Obama said
that Biden was not a socialist.

“Look,
some of the rhetoric you’re hearing down here in South Florida, it’s just made
up. It’s just nonsense. Listening to the Republicans, you’d think Joe was more
communist than the Castros. Don’t fall for that garbage,” he said.

‘Don’t fall
for that okie doke. Joe Biden isn’t a socialist. He was a senator from Delaware
I think folks would know if he was a super socialist right now. What’s true is
he’ll stand up for regular people,” said the former president.