Karl Rove: Obama’s commencement speech ‘a political drive-by shooting’

Former White House strategist Karl Rove on Monday accused former President Obama of a “political drive-by shooting” after Obama criticized the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic in a virtual commencement speech Saturday.

“It is so unseemly for a former president to take the virtual commencement ceremony for a series of historically black colleges and universities and turn it into a political drive-by shooting,” Rove said Monday on “Fox & Friends.”

“This is a moment where these young graduates could be inspired to a life of service, to recognize that life is going to bring challenges and how we handle the challenges is going to demonstrate our character. There are lots of positive messages that the former president could have delivered,” Rove added, accusing him of “slandering” President Trump and Vice President Pence.

“It is so unseemly for a former president to take the virtual commencement ceremony for a series of historically black colleges and universities and turn it into a political drive-by shooting” — Karl Rove on Obama’s commencement speech in which he indirectly criticized Trump pic.twitter.com/stZamQFhgF

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 18, 2020

Obama did not directly reference either Trump or Pence in the speech, but he did criticized the federal response to the coronavirus.

“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 said. “A lot them aren’t even pretending to be in charge.”

The former president went on to say, “If the world’s going to get better, it’s going to be up to you. With everything suddenly feeling like it’s up for grabs, this is your time to seize the initiative. Nobody can tell you anymore that you should be waiting your turn. Nobody can tell you anymore ‘this is how it’s always been done.’ More than ever, this is your moment — your generation’s world to shape.”

Obama last week sent out a tweet that also received a lot of attention. It said, “Vote.”