United States President Donald Trump on Monday hit out at his predecessor Barack Obama, claiming that he was a “grossly incompetent” president. The potshots came after Obama criticised the country’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic without mentioning Trump.

The virus has killed more than 89,562 people in the United States, which is the worst-hit country so far.

During a press briefing at the White House on Sunday, when Trump was asked about Obama’s remarks, he said, “Look, he was an incompetent President. That’s all I can say. Grossly incompetent.”

On Saturday, Obama had said that “more than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing.” “A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge,” he added. The former president made these comments while addressing the graduates of historically black colleges and universities online.

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Trump has long been facing criticism for his administration’s handling of the pandemic. Last week, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci had said that reopening the economy and relaxations of lockdown will lead to additional outbreaks of the coronavirus. In April, Fauci had said that lives could have been saved in the United States if the country had shut down earlier.

Trump had consistently denied that the virus was a threat to the United States, claiming several times that there was nothing to worry about and that the administration had it under control. At one point he had also said that the virus was just like the flu.

On Sunday, Trump claimed that tremendous progress is being made on many fronts, including coming up with a cure for the “horrible plague that has beset our country”. “So, I think we had a great weekend. We did a lot of terrific meetings,” he added.

Last month in a video endorsement of former Vice President Joe Biden, Obama had said that the country needed a leader who confronted the public health crisis and also the impact caused by the pandemic on the economy.

Follow today’s live updates on the pandemic here.