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Obama: The rest of us have to live with the consequences of what Trump's done

24 October 2020
 Dan Ackermann

Campaigning for Joe Biden at a car rally in Miami on Saturday, Barack Obama railed against President Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying "the rest of us have to live with the consequences of what he's done."

Driving the news: With less than two weeks before the election, the Biden campaign is drawing on the former president's popularity with Democrats to drive turnout and motivate voters.

What he's saying: [D]uring the debate, Trump was asked, 'What is your plan for the new phase of COVID, ' which is a pretty good question considering that we just saw the highest number of cases spike up yesterday. So you think he'd be ready for a response," Obama said.

  • "Instead, he just said it wasn't his fault and he didn't have one. He said it's now gone in a bunch of states just as states are reaching new record highs nationwide," the former president told the crowd, who honked their car horns in support at the socially-distanced drive-in rally.
  • Trump "doesn't have a plan. He doesn't even acknowledge the reality of what's taking place, all across the country," he added.
  • "We literally left this White House a pandemic playbook that showed them how to respond before a virus reached our shores."
  • "I knew [Trump] would not embrace my vision. I knew he wasn't going to continue my policies. But I did hope that for the country's sake, he'd show at least a little bit of interest in taking the job seriously."
  • "Donald Trump isn't going to suddenly protect all of us. He can't even take the basic steps to protect himself. "
  • "[T]he rest of us have to live with the consequences of what he's done. At least, 220,000 Americans are dead. More than 100,000 small businesses have closed."

The bottom line: "This election requires every single one of us. What we do in these next 10 days will matter for decades to come," Obama said.

Go deeper... Obama: Trump emboldens people to be "cruel and divisive and racist"

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.