Barack Obama Blasts Trump Administration's COVID-19 Response, Addresses Ahmaud Arbery Shooting in HBCU Commencement Speech

"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. A lot of them aren’t even pretending to be in charge."

Barack Obama delivered the closing remarks in a live-streamed virtual commencement address for 2020 HBCU graduates.

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For his portion, the former president sounded off on systemic racism and the dual justice systems exemplified in the recent circulation of a video depicting the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed Georgia resident who was killed while jogging in his own neighborhood earlier this year. "Injustice like this isn’t new," Obama tells graduates. He adds, "What is new is that so much of your generation has woken up to the fact that the status quo needs fixing; that the old ways of doing things don’t work; that it doesn’t matter how much money you make if everyone around you is hungry and sick."

From there, Obama pivoted to the incompetence displayed in the Trump administration's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, charging the regime with "fully, finally [tearing] back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they're doing."

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Hosted by Kevin Hart, the "Show Me Your Walk" commencement address featured words from HBCU alum, including CEOs, actors, athletes, and an assortment of political figures.

Watch the full 2020 commencement video below. Jump to the 1:46:53 mark to get right to Obama's segment.