Trump attacks Obama for swine flu deaths -- but more than twice as many have already died from COVID-19

President Donald Trump on Friday went back to one of his favorite deflections of blame for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic by attacking former President Barack Obama over the number of people who died from the 2009 H1N1 outbreak.

"Biden/Obama were a disaster in handling the H1N1 Swine Flu," the president wrote. "Polling at the time showed disastrous approval numbers. 17,000 people died unnecessarily and through incompetence! Also, don’t forget their 5 Billion Dollar Obamacare website that should have cost close to nothing!"

Trump's comparison of deaths during the 2009 pandemic and the COVID-19 pandemic does not hold up well under scrutiny, however.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, an estimated 12,469 people died from the swine flu over the span of a year during the period of April 2009 to April 2010.

In contrast, the United States has experienced more than 33,000 deaths from COVID-19 in just the last month.