Bad Optics: President Golfing During Ramp Up Of Hurricane Dorian
[guest post by Dana]
[Ed. Preemptive strike: I know, I know, you think I am picking on President Trump, and there are far more important things going on in the world, so please feel free to skip this post. But remember, everything the President of the United States says and does matters.]
Mayor Sadiq Khan of London criticized President Trump for canceling his scheduled trip to Poland to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II and going golfing:
London Mayor Sadiq Khan renewed his rivalry with Donald Trump, mocking the U.S. president for “dealing with a hurricane out on the golf course” over the weekend.
Khan’s comments came after Trump pulled out of a trip to Poland to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II to concentrate on Hurricane Dorian, but then played golf at his private club in Virginia.
“He’s clearly busy dealing with a hurricane out on the golf course,” Khan, who traveled to Poland to attend a commemoration ceremony on Sunday, told POLITICO’s London Playbook.
As reminder, Trump has been in an ongoing tit-for-tat with Khan since 2016:
Khan and Trump have traded barbs since 2016, when the then-U.S. presidential candidate floated the idea of banning Muslims from traveling to America, and Khan, London’s first Muslim mayor, called Trump’s views on his religion “ignorant.” More recently, Trump called Khan a “stone cold loser” on Twitter, and the London mayor fired back, saying the U.S. president’s missives were worthy of “an 11-year-old.”
Here’s the thing: whether it was Mayor Khan or anyone else who pointed out the poor optics of Trump golfing while Dorian threatened the U.S., it would still be an example of poor optics. The fact that he was playing golf at his own Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia only increased the bad optics. But the President chose to give Khan an opening by choosing to play golf during a natural disaster, so that’s on him.
–Dana
A friendly reminder that many of us complained when President Obama played a round of golf during the funeral services for Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria, when volcanic activity in Iceland prevented him from attending the funeral in Warsaw.
JVW (54fd0b) — 9/3/2019 @ 1:21 pmI wonder if the mayor of London would have felt it appropriate to make this comment had they not had their twitter spat? I guess we’ll never know, but I think this is an example of where the ‘always punch back’ strategy can hurt him. By having a Jr. High beef with someone I’d never pay any attention to normally, Trump has raised their profile to the point where I actually tune in.
Time123 (b4d075) — 9/3/2019 @ 1:30 pmI’m sure some positive stories about things the President of the United States said and did are in the hopper, just waiting to be published. Or maybe, to NeverTrump, “everything” really doesn’t matter. Just the perceived negative.
BuDuh (4ae4af) — 9/3/2019 @ 1:33 pmI honestly wouldn’t care if the President golfed. They all do it, and the President needs some exercise and relaxation. *Except* that Trump made a huge deal of the former President golfing, and said that he wouldn’t. So it turns into yet another example of Trump being a lying hypocrite.
JRH (52aed3) — 9/3/2019 @ 1:34 pmInterrupting this discussion of Trump’s unchanging unfitness for office with a headline from our local paper showing how we take charge here in Atlanta:
Man, sometimes a little road rage is necessary in these parts to keep traffic moving!
Appalled (d07ae6) — 9/3/2019 @ 1:52 pmTrump’s lucky he didn’t go, as Khan May have used a knife on him. It’s all teh rage in London.
Come to think 🤔 of it, so’s Khan.
Colonel Haiku (33b771) — 9/3/2019 @ 1:56 pmIf you’re a critic of the President, why is it a bad thing that he’s on a golf course?
Frankly, you should be cheering everytime he’s golfing… its less time away from the Oval Office.
@JVW: I was one of the few who didn’t mind Obama’s numerous visits to the golf course. Let ’em golf as many times as they want. 😉
whembly (51f28e) — 9/3/2019 @ 1:58 pmI didn’t criticize Bush or Obama for playing golf. In fact, I defended them, and I won’t criticize Trump for it either, even he’s played a lot more than either one.
Paul Montagu (a2342d) — 9/3/2019 @ 2:14 pmIn fact, we should be glad that he’s out there and we should encourage him to play even more rounds. The time that he’s driving his cart and swinging his clubs is the time he’s not spending in “executive time”, watching FoxNews and sending out lame-ass tweets.
Also, it doesn’t matter if he’s at a country club or the White House or one of his buildings. He’s the president wherever he is, he can conduct his business wherever he is, and he’s a phone call away if there’s any sort of emergency.
Trump and Halliburton maneuvered Hurricane Dorian away from Mara Lago. The media has never been more bummed out.
mg (8cbc69) — 9/3/2019 @ 2:35 pmStepping back from this a bit, if you think about it, “celebrating the anniversary” of the start of World War II does seem a bit odd. It doesn’t really seem to merit being rated as a ‘celebratory’ occasion; perhaps it’s the Polish version of Pearl Harbor Day. Were there ceremonies honoring the start of WW 1? Don’t recall, but certainly we traditionally ‘celebrate’ it’s end and honor the fallen every Armistice Day.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 9/3/2019 @ 2:38 pmThis is just one of the cuter ways in which Trump is the greatest gift Obama ever received.
Dustin (6d7686) — 9/3/2019 @ 2:47 pmMaybe Trump will dedicate a golf trophy to the victims of Dorian…just to make them feel better about him playing golf during a hurricane threatening the U.S. Remember:
Dana (8b25a4) — 9/3/2019 @ 2:53 pmOptics are always bad for republicans. Los Angeles Times huffed that Trump’s visit to some prior hurricane or shooting site would interfere with first responders, but GWB was zinged for not landing after Katrina.
After a long 3 years of “he dumped a whole box of fish food in the koi pond!”; “had a red headed russian spy in his office!”; “colluded!”; etc., we all know the Rule: The only good optics for a republican is to attack another republican.
Harcourt Fenton Mudd (0c349e) — 9/3/2019 @ 2:58 pmEFF golf, Obama was the greatest gift ISIL, the MB and the terrorist regime in Iran ever received.
Colonel Haiku (33b771) — 9/3/2019 @ 3:10 pmHis statement about playing quickly is more than the PGA has ever said about slow play.
mg (8cbc69) — 9/3/2019 @ 3:11 pmThank You.
“But the President chose to give Khan an opening by choosing to play golf during a natural disaster, so that’s on him.”
When did the Bahamas become the 51st state?
Munroe (33bad0) — 9/3/2019 @ 3:21 pm16. Nobody said he was obliged. It’s bad optics. Unless you’re a knob polishing Trump Humper, I guess.
Gryph (08c844) — 9/3/2019 @ 3:42 pmI would say that the real opening was Trump responding to Khan’s jibe. It should have been beneath the dignity of a real President. And a real man.
nk (dbc370) — 9/3/2019 @ 3:47 pmsadik khan, the one’s whose city is awash in acid attacks and knifings,
narciso (147951) — 9/3/2019 @ 4:03 pmHe’s tough on twitter, but he’s turned into quite a joke on that sort of thing.
It’s funny how upset this golf stuff makes his fans. I mean… why aren’t Trump’s fans upset that Trump did nothing about Iran blowing up our $130,000,000 airplane? Trump’s as bad as Carter when it comes to foreign policy. He’s earned zero respect, as proven by his failure to get a single real deal accomplished. Maybe Trump will finally get something done with his gun control ramblings, but no wall, no end to obamacare, no balanced budget, no end to ISIS even. Other than unilateral stuff, nothing all around, and therefore everything he’s done aside from judges can be undone with Biden or Warren’s pen.
But golf does play into that. Being such a shameless troll about golf, grabbing women, or even lying is a big reason why no one trusts or respects Trump as a man or a leader.
Dustin (6d7686) — 9/3/2019 @ 4:06 pmhttp://meaninginhistory.blogspot.com/2019/09/briefly-noted-grey-lady-stands-by-its.html
narciso (147951) — 9/3/2019 @ 4:13 pmsadik khan, the one’s whose city is awash in acid attacks and knifings,
That’s what I said.
nk (dbc370) — 9/3/2019 @ 4:17 pmPoland knows who pays lip service, and in some cases, blames it for world war 2, and who has it’s back,
https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-poland-usa-energy/us-to-help-poland-ukraine-disconnect-from-russian-gas-idUSKCN1VL0HH?fbclid=IwAR2lU67nmD_ho0MzyQmWoqfiD4_rhVZZ4-R0WSm8Xf-VoYR5SIfzPmXhg9Q
narciso (147951) — 9/3/2019 @ 4:26 pmwe want hollow gestures instead of real policy,
https://streetwiseprofessor.com/americans-realistic-response-to-a-fight-for-freedom-in-hong-kong/#comments
narciso (147951) — 9/3/2019 @ 4:33 pmsince mueller pulled that rabbit last may, turns out it was just a rabbits foot,
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6367413-Response-to-non-motion-Document.html
narciso (147951) — 9/3/2019 @ 4:41 pmSpeaking of bad optics… https://www.redstate.com/bonchie/2019/09/03/cnns-jake-tapper-gets-really-upset-contact-james-clapper-steele-dossier-pointed/
Colonel Haiku (33b771) — 9/3/2019 @ 4:45 pmI’m way more irritated by the claims that the hurricane is threatening Alabama, which seem like they have the potential to induce a panic in a state that isn’t actually threatened, and thereby to complicate relief efforts.
aphrael (e0cdc9) — 9/3/2019 @ 4:50 pmLord, the photos of the damage done in the Bahamas… incredible.
Colonel Haiku (33b771) — 9/3/2019 @ 5:01 pmI looked it up once, and according to what I found the President who played the most golf while in office was Woodrow Wilson. Second was Dwight Eisenhower. There are no golf records for George Washington or Abraham Lincoln, so they must have played on the sly.
Gary Hoffman (62f212) — 9/3/2019 @ 5:22 pmI would have been okay with Trump tweeting this. I’d have to think about the longer version. 😉
nk (dbc370) — 9/3/2019 @ 5:37 pmHaiku: i’m having a small world experience today, in that apparently I know two people who lost people on the boat.
aphrael (e0cdc9) — 9/3/2019 @ 6:19 pmI just saw this aphrael… my daughter dropped by for a visit this evening… she asked my wife and I if we remembered one of her soccer coaches and three of his four daughters, two of which she played several seasons of soccer with… showed us recent pics. The three daughters, her coach and coach’s new wife were all on the boat. The fourth daughter couldn’t get off work, the only reason she wasn’t with them. Absolutely horrible.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 9/3/2019 @ 6:49 pmMOSCOW mitch putin’s bitch! but he is only number 2 bitch!
lany (1cf3ac) — 9/3/2019 @ 6:51 pmOn the news this morning they had a little video clip of a kid catching a foul ball at the game on Sunday. I didn’t see a video clip of whatever it was Trump had to say. I guess some things are more important than others. Not that I’m disagreeing with the TV station’s priorities, mind you.
Jerryskids (702a61) — 9/3/2019 @ 7:22 pmOh God, Haiku, that’s horrific.
Dana (fdf131) — 9/3/2019 @ 7:23 pmYes, horrible. From what my daughter tells me, the ex-wife, – the young women’s mother – didn’t know about the trip… what a helluva thing to have to deal with.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 9/3/2019 @ 7:34 pmSo terribly sad, Coland and aphrael.
mg (8cbc69) — 9/3/2019 @ 10:30 pmColonel.
mg (8cbc69) — 9/4/2019 @ 2:16 amTerrible news, coronello
Narciso (52211c) — 9/4/2019 @ 5:36 amI’d feel so much better if Trump was taking charge at the command center.
Kevin M (21ca15) — 9/4/2019 @ 8:01 amCH, I’m very sorry you and your family are going through this.
Time123 (52fb0e) — 9/4/2019 @ 2:38 pmThx, but they were mostly just nice folks and fond memories of the past for us. Absolutely horrible for the victims and the mother and daughter who’ve survived them. The tragedies that some must deal with are sobering and heart-wrenching… makes one’s heart ache for them.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 9/4/2019 @ 3:16 pmAlso a son of the coach’s new wife is still living. He was featured on he CBS Evening News – I think this is the same family you are talking about. (5 members of his family, incluuding 3 step sisters were killed.)
There were two exits to the sleeping area below deck – both blocked by fire they say. One of the two exits was really a kind of emergecy exit.
The captain and the other 4 members of the crew jumped off the ship and were rescued.
Most bodies show signs of fire damage.
Sammy Finkelman (8dcc71) — 9/4/2019 @ 8:22 pm43… yes, that’s them, Sammy. I’ve heard there were a lot of folks from NorCal on that boat.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 9/4/2019 @ 8:45 pm