Barack Obama has unleashed on US President Donald Trump in a scathing speech which condemns the President as selfish, corrupt and childish.
In a speech at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday (NZ time) former President Obama said when he was succeeded by Trump in 2016 he knew his policies and vision would not be carried on.
"I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously," he said.
"That he might come to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care. But he never did."
Obama continued on to say Trump has shown "no interest" in putting in the work, finding common ground or using his presidential power "for anyone but himself and his friends".
"[He has] no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show he can use to get the attention he craves".
He then blasted Trump's highly-criticised response to the COVID-19 pandemic saying his failure is "severe".
The US currently has more than five million confirmed cases of the virus and more than 170,000 people have died.
"Millions of jobs are gone while those at the top take more than ever," said Obama.
"Our proud reputation around the world is badly diminished, and our democratic institutions are threatened like never before."
Obama went on to endorse his former Vice President Joe Biden, saying "he's got the character and the experience to make us a better country.
Trump's response to the criticism was to tweet a slew of capitalised thoughts on the matter.
Trump has long made unfounded claims Obama spied on his campaign through wiretapping Trump Tower - of which there is no evidence.
He also claimed Obama was behind the FBI investigation of Russian contacts between Trump campaign officials and Russian sources in 2016.
