Donald Trump lambasted the media as “sick of hatred and dishonesty”. (File)
Washington:
President Donald Trump was upset Monday over negative media coverage of him playing golf on Memorial Day weekend as the death toll in the United States from the coronavirus pandemic approached 100,000 .
“The Fake and Totally Corrupt News makes it look like a deadly sin!” The avid golf president said on Twitter, noting that playing on his own golf course in Virginia was the first time he had played since early March.
The timing of its release, as the nation approached a milestone in pandemic deaths, has attracted much media criticism, with commentators recalling Trump’s own past attacks on his predecessor Barack Obama for playing gambling during the 2014 Ebola epidemic.
“There are times to play and times when you can’t play. It sends the wrong signal,” said Trump at the time.
“You know, when you’re president, you sort of say,” I’m going to give it up for a few years and I’m really going to focus on the work, “he said in 2014.
“Hypocritical”
After being searched by embers this weekend, Trump lambasted the media as “sick of hate and dishonesty”.
“I knew it would happen!” he said. “What they don’t say is that it was my first golf in almost 3 months, and if I waited three years they would still do their usual hit songs.”
The Republican leader went on to say that in 2014 Obama flew to his home state, Hawaii, shortly after publicly denouncing the beheading of the American hostage James Foley by ISIS activists.
Obama then apologized for the improperly scheduled visit and acknowledged the seriousness attached to presidential behavior at such times.
Trump received unexpected support from former Obama adviser David Axelrod.
“I don’t often defend this @POTUS but I don’t hold it against him for a game of golf,” said Axelrod, now a political commentator, on Twitter.
“Besides, it gives us some respite from these crazy tweets! Yes, it is hypocritical for @realDonaldTrump to have attacked @BarackObama for seeking relief from presidential pressures on the golf course when Trump has recorded much more of turns, “he said.
“It is also hypocritical to attack Trump for this now if you then defended Obama.”
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
