Barack Obama To Stephen Colbert: Trump Response To Pandemic Was “Shambolic”

President Barack Obama told Stephen Colbert on Late Show last night that the Trump Administration’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been “shambolic,” and that if the government had “done the work” at the beginning of the pandemic “there is no doubt we would have saved some lives and, ironically, the economy would be better.”

Plus, Obama added, a stronger response “would have been good politics.”

The former president explained that a better early response wasn’t dependent solely on vaccine development but simply “respecting science and not undermining leading epidemiologists.” Mask-wearing, he told Colbert, should not have been presented as “an act of oppression” but rather as “common sense.”

Obama also reported that no member of his immediate family has gotten Covid.

Watch the clip above.

The former president has been making the talk show rounds in recent days to promote his new book A Promised Land.

Later on CBS’ Late Show, Obama discussed First Lady Michelle’s initial reaction to his running for president, and accepts Colbert’s wastepaper basketball challenge. Watch both clips below.

More from Deadline

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.