Axelrod: Obama Gulf Oil Speech ‘Like the Gettysburg Address’ Compared to Trump Coronavirus Address

CNN senior political commentator and former Obama adviser David Axelrod on Thursday reacted to President Donald Trump’s Oval Office coronavirus address.

Axelrod slammed Trump’s speech for failing to be truthful, factual, and clear on how to meet the challenge of combating the coronavirus, arguing he did not help inspire confidence in the nation’s leadership.

“Look, there are a couple of obligations when you’re giving an Oval Office address in the midst of a crisis,” Axelrod advised on “New Day.” “One is to be truthful, to be factual, to be open with the scope of the challenge and then to be clear how you’re going to meet that challenge. And the president failed on all fronts last night. It is inconceivable to me that minutes after an Oval Office address, in the midst of a major crisis that you have to engage in a series of skinbacks to correct what the nation just heard. And that doesn’t inspire confidence that we have steady leadership at the helm in the midst of this. And the psychology of this got much worse instead of better because of this speech.”

Host John Berman brought up former President Barack Obama’s failed Gulf oil spill speech.

Axelrod recalled Obama’s speech “underwhelmed” and “made things worse,” but said it was “like the Gettysburg Address” in comparison to Trump’s address the night before.

“Honestly, that was like the Gettysburg Address compared to what we saw last night,” he added.

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent