WASHINGTON — For weeks, former president Barack Obama has chosen not to respond to the taunts as President Trump seeks to deflect responsibility for the widespread coronavirus outbreak in the US by shifting some blame to his predecessor.

But on Tuesday, Obama appeared to fight back.

‘‘We’ve seen all too terribly the consequences of those who denied warnings of a pandemic,’’ he wrote on Twitter to his nearly 115 million followers, in what could be read as a critique of Trump’s initial efforts to minimize the threat of the pathogen. Linking to a news article about the Trump administration’s rollback of Obama-era rules to curb auto emissions, Obama added: ‘‘We can’t afford any more consequences of climate denial. All of us, especially young people, have to demand better of our government at every level and vote this fall.’’

Though people close to the 44th president said the political nature of his message was aimed at holding a broad group of Republican politicians accountable for dismissing climate science, Obama’s decision to step into the political arena amid the lethal spread of the novel coronavirus represented a slight shift in his strategy over the past several weeks in which he has focused on playing a more neutral public role.

Confined to his Washington home with wife, Michelle Obama, and their two daughters, Obama has told aides that he is determined to use his influential social media platforms to disseminate information — grounded in facts and science — to help the public stay safe, as well as lifting up examples of human empathy and goodwill in a national crisis.

People close to Obama, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe his views, said he also made clear he is not interested in getting sucked into a political catfight with Trump, leaving it to his former aides — most prominently Ron Klain, who served as Ebola czar in the Obama administration — to parry Trump’s partisan attacks and correct the public record over misinformation put out by the Trump White House.

‘I think there’s a tricky balance here,’’ said Jen Psaki, a White House communications director under Obama. ‘‘As much as former president Obama has an enormous microphone and people still look to hear what he has to say, he also, especially at a time of global crisis, does not want to create a moment that’s perceived as political — a battle between a former Democratic president and a sitting Republican president, even if President Trump is completely mishandling this.’’

Yet Trump’s allies quickly seized on Obama’s tweet Tuesday to amplify the political fight in a presidential election year. Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, sarcastically suggested Obama was calling for ‘‘the overwhelming electoral defeat of Joe Biden & Nancy Pelosi’’ — the Democratic presidential delegate leader and Democratic House speaker — because they ‘‘opposed & demagogued Trump’s China travel ban, which helped slow the coronavirus pandemic.’’

Judd Deere, a Trump White House spokesman, said in a statement: ‘‘It is unfortunate that the former president would rather try to create division instead of working to bring us together. During these uncertain times, Americans are receiving comfort, hope and resources from President Trump. The American people have tremendous spirit and they continue to respond to the president’s all-of-America call in unprecedented ways.’’

Obama associates argued that his tweet was consistent with his pledge to speak out judiciously when Trump’s efforts to roll back his signature policies threaten to undermine the public good. Obama has mounted public defenses against the Trump administration’s bid to unwind the Affordable Care Act, the Paris climate accord, and a deferred action program for younger undocumented immigrants.

Yet the former president’s restraint at other times has frustrated some liberals, who have sought a Democratic counterweight to Trump’s bully pulpit and willingness to sow disinformation. As the coronavirus crisis has accelerated, Biden and fellow Democratic candidate Senator Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, unable to campaign at rallies, have been confined to their homes and mostly drowned out by Trump’s televised White House briefings.