Donald Trump is not a man who skips golf. He golfed when a ballistic missile alarm went off in Hawaii. He golfed on Mother's Day. He golfed after a terrorist attack in London. He even golfed just miles away from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as the funerals were going on. You read that right - he was literally on the golf course as teenage victims of a school mass shooting were being laid to rest just miles away. No, he did not visit any of the grieving families He golfed.
Fox News' media "analyst" Howie Kurtz had a panel on his Sunday MediaBuzz show to talk about how the media bashes Donald Trump for his choice to golf during hurricanes, stating that it is normally *just* the "opposition party" that takes this public stance and that the media should stay out of it.
Just a reminder, Trump golfed twice during Hurricane Dorian - Saturday and Monday. Florida Senator Rick Scott, defended Donald Trump, of course. CNN dragged Donald Trump for saying he would never golf while president, because he would be too busy. And who could forget Trump saying he had "never heard of a Category 5" hurricane before. But pointing out those inconsistencies are being an "opposition party" rather than reporters.
Here is the panel:
HEMINGWAY: When President Trump started calling the media the opposition party or using harsh language, "fake news is the enemy of the people," people said this is ridiculous, this is overwrought, but then we have seen media outlets just fully embrace that - acting as if they are the opposition party. And there's no question that they're the primary people opposing him and leading the effort. Everybody sees it, and that's bad for the media because they need to have credible voice if they want to hold him accountable.
KURTZ: The one legitimate point that some journalists and commentators made is Donald Trump, the private citizen, repeatedly slammed Barack Obama for playing too much golf. He said as President, he'd hardly play at all, so it is legitimate to point that out but partisan divide, golf is bad when you oppose the President who is in office.
PAGE: And vacation time, Obama was hit of vacation time and turns out he did not have more vacation time --
KURTZ: Even if he did, Presidents are always working doesn't matter where they are.
PAGE: That's right, I will come back to that question, how would we react if Obama had behaved like this at a time a hurricane was hitting us, he would be slammed too.
KURTZ: There is something, Kristin, about Donald Trump and hurricanes and how it's covered. I'm thinking of the Puerto Rico devastation and throwing paper towels to the crowd. The media seemed intent, almost, I would say, in portraying the President as clueless, lacking empathy, somehow screwing things up. Now it's true he's not a politician, but whenever there's a hurricane, he seems to get hammered.
SOLIS: It does seem as though President Trump gets flack from the media, not just from the opposition party, over this sort of thing.
Maybe, just maybe, Donald Trump is criticized in the media AND by the opposition party because he DESERVES it. His actions are grotesque, he cannot even fake empathy, he lies about the hurricane hitting Alabama, then triples down on his lie, and THEN makes the NOAA lie for him.
The issue isn't why the media and the Democrats are dragging Donald Trump for this bullshit. The issue is - WHY AREN'T THE REPUBLICANS?
