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Barack Obama criticized: Ex-POTUS faces backlash for wading in on the coronavirus debate on social media

Ari Levinson/Wikimedia Commons

Barack Obama received angry backlash from Donald Trump’s supporters for wading in on the coronavirus debate on Twitter.

This week, the ex-POTUS tweeted that the people of the United States have to look out for each other. He also shared a story from Vox that suggests canceling events and self-quarantine are the key to saving lives.

Even though Michelle Obama’s husband did not mention Trump in his tweet, the POTUS’s supporters were convinced that Barack was throwing shade at him. After all, Trump has not yet announced the cancelation of his rallies, and he hasn’t also gone on a self-quarantine even though he’s exposed to people who may be diagnosed with the deadly coronavirus.

“If you’re wondering whether it’s an overreaction to cancel large gatherings and public events (and I love basketball), here’s a useful primer as to why these measures can slow the spread of the virus and save lives. We have to look out for each other,” Barack tweeted.

Trump’s supporters also attacked Barack based on how he handled the H1N1 virus during his presidency. They claimed that the ex-POTUS didn’t also address the swine flu epidemic years ago until after thousands of people were already killed by the disease.

“Is that why you waited until thousands had died and millions were infected before doing anything about the H1N1 virus when you were President?” one person tweeted.

“So why did you not do any of this with the H1N1 flu? Asking for a friend? Swine [flu] wiped out 12,500 Americans in one year when you were POTUS. That's 34 deaths a day,” another person wrote.

“I remember how you handled H1N1 in 2009... what did you do… ignore it hoping the problem would go away… remember how many died and got sick during that crisis?” Trump’s supporter asked.

Trump also accused Barack of making unspecified changes that complicated the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s testing system.

He also dubbed Obama’s response to H1N1 a full-scale disaster since thousands of people died and nothing meaningful was allegedly done to fix the testing problem.

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