Trump Blasts Obama As 'Incompetent' After Apparent Commencement Speech Jab

President Donald Trump on Sunday tore into former President Barack Obama , calling him an incompetent president after Obama appeared to criticize his response to the coronavirus crisis during two commencement speeches a day earlier.

Asked about Obamas remarks, Trump told reporters on the White House lawn that he didnt hear it before proceeding to bash his predecessor as grossly incompetent.

Look, he was an incompetent president, Trump said. Thats all I can say. Grossly incompetent.

President Trump: \"[President Obama] was an incompetent president. That's all I can say. Grossly incompetent.\" pic.twitter.com/Cw6CwgxUrT

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Grossly incompetent.\" pic.twitter.com/Cw6CwgxUrT The Hill (@thehill) May 17, 2020\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":448,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/amplify_video_thumb/1262072367234220032/img/FgVDWuKQieOjw8ox.jpg","thumbnail_width":713,"title":"The Hill on 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President Trump: "[President Obama] was an incompetent president. That's all I can say. Grossly incompetent." pic.twitter.com/Cw6CwgxUrT
The Hill (@thehill) May 17, 2020

Its unclear if Trump was referring to a specific incident in his accusation. The White House did not immediately respond to HuffPosts request for comment.

Obama delivered two virtual commencement addresses Saturday, the first for graduates of historically black colleges and universities, followed hours later by a prime time special for high school seniors.

This pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what theyre doing, Obama said during his first speech. A lot of them arent even pretending to be in charge.

In his second address, he took aim at so-called grown-ups with fancy titles who have screwed up the country by acting irresponsibly.

Doing what feels good, whats convenient, whats easy thats how little kids think, Obama said. Unfortunately, a lot of so-called grown-ups, including some with fancy titles and important jobs, still think that way which is why things are so screwed up. I hope that instead, you decide to ground yourself in values that last, like honesty, hard work, responsibility, fairness, generosity, respect for others.

Many viewers interpreted the comments as a thinly veiled attack on Trumps leadership.

Congrats to the high school Class of 2020, as well as to the teachers, coaches, and most of all, parents and family whove guided you along the way. Thanks for letting me be part of your big day! pic.twitter.com/RjYvHs2BhC

Barack Obama (@BarackObama) May 17, 2020","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Barack Obama","author_url":"https://twitter.com/BarackObama","cache_age":86400,"description":"Congrats to the high school Class of 2020, as well as to the teachers, coaches, and most of all, parents and family whove guided you along the way. 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Congrats to the high school Class of 2020, as well as to the teachers, coaches, and most of all, parents and family whove guided you along the way. Thanks for letting me be part of your big day! pic.twitter.com/RjYvHs2BhC
Barack Obama (@BarackObama) May 17, 2020

Until recently, Obama has largely refrained from publicly taking shots at Trump. But earlier this month, Obama reportedly bashed the Trump administrations response to the pandemic as an absolute chaotic disaster during a phone call with some of his former White House aides.

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Trump, however, repeatedly attacked Obama throughout his eight years in office, and has continued to do so since winning the 2016 election. Most recently, Trump has been obsessed with pushing the Obamagate conspiracy theory, claiming without evidence that Obama led a coup to sabotage his presidency.

When a Washington Post reporter last week asked Trump to explain Obamagate, the president refused.

You know what the crime is, Trump said. The crime is obvious to everybody. All you have to do is read the newspapers, except yours.