On Monday during an online Trump campaign event  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that former President Obama should have refrained from criticizing President Trump’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, referring to Obama’s critique as “a little bit classless.”

According to McConnell Obama should have followed the precedent set by former President George W. Bush, who largely avoided weighing in on politics after leaving the White House. McConnell named the former GOP president and his father, former President George H.W. Bush, noting that they “kept their mouths shut” after leaving office because they didn’t think it was “appropriate” to criticize another president. 

“I think President Obama should have kept his mouth shut. You know, we know he doesn’t like much this administration is doing. That’s understandable. But I think it’s a little bit classless frankly to critique an administration that comes after you,” McConnell said. 

“You had your shot. You were there for eight years. I think the tradition that the Bushes set up of not critiquing the president who comes after you is a good tradition,” McConnell added. 

McConnell did not specify which Obama comment he was referring to.

During a private phone call, President Obama labelled the Trump administration’s response as an “absolute chaotic disaster” that stemmed from a “what’s in it for me” mindset.

“It’s part of the reason why the response to this global crisis has been so anemic and spotty,” Obama said, according to CNN. “It would have been bad even with the best of governments. It has been an absolute chaotic disaster when that mindset of ‘what’s in it for me’ and ‘to heck with everybody else’ … is operationalized in our government.” 

Obama has in fact largely avoided weighing in on policies or plans developed by the Trump White House since leaving office in 2017. However, he took a veiled shot at the administration on Twitter late last month, saying there still was not a “coherent national plan.”

“While we continue to wait for a coherent national plan to navigate this pandemic, states like Massachusetts are beginning to adopt their own public health plans to combat this virus––before it’s too late,” Obama tweeted, linking to a New Yorker article that detailed Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s push for widespread testing and a comprehensive contact tracing program.