Barack Obama Slams Trump’s Response to COVID-19 in Uniting Virtual HBCU Commencement Speech

Barack Obama delivered two virtual commencement speeches on Saturday, and it was exactly what we all needed.

The speeches were addressed to High School and college graduates of 2020 who were robbed of their once in a lifetime opportunity to walk across the stage due to the coronavirus.

“These aren’t normal times. You’re being asked to find your way in a world during a devastating pandemic,” Obama said to HBCUs. “A disease like this just spotlights the inequalities and extra burdens that Black communities have historically had to deal with in this country.”

Thank you @BarackObama for your support for HBCUs—and for believing in the Class of 2020 as they set out to change the world. #ShowMeYourWalk pic.twitter.com/dqgqvbmksS

— UNCF (@UNCF) May 16, 2020

Eight minutes into the speech Obama slammed the United States’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they’re doing,” he continued. “A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge.”

The speech was intended for graduating but we can all agree as a nation that he was spittin’! “As young African Americans, you’ve been exposed, earlier than some, to the world as it is,” he said. “But as young HBCU grads, your education has also shown you the world as it ought to be.”