President Trump today defended his frequent golf outings in a tweet despite counts that say he has outpaced former President Obama’s golf rounds.
“I know many in business and politics that work out endlessly, in some cases to a point of exhaustion. It is their number one passion in life, but nobody complains,” Trump wrote. “My ‘exercise’ is playing, almost never during the week, a quick round of golf. Obama played more and much longer rounds, no problem.”
His tweet comes just two weeks after his aides reportedly struggled to reach him while he was golfing.
On June 28, Trump shared a video of a group of his supporters clashing with anti-Trump protesters in Florida.
In the video, a supporter begins to chant “white power.”
Trump shared the video, tweeting the clip showed “great people.”
The video remained on the president’s Twitter feed for three hours before it was taken down.
A campaign spokesperson later said later that the president “did not hear” the phrase, which was uttered early in the video, before he shared the video.
White House aides reportedly struggled to contact the president to get him to remove the video but were unable to reach him for about three while he was golfing at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia and had put his phone down.
While Trump claimed that he has golfed fewer times than his predecessor, that’s not true.
Trump has spent 266 days at his golf clubs at the end of May while Obama had played 98 rounds by that point in his presidency.
Trump had paused his frequent trips to the golf course when the COVID-19 pandemic first reached the US but has resumed his outings since the end of May.
In May, Trump also defended his golfing as the COVID-19 US death toll neared 100,000.
Now, at least 134,817 people have died from the coronavirus in the US, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
According to Trump Golf Count, a website that tracks the president’s golf outings, Obama played 306 rounds of golf during his eight years in office — just 45 more than the 261 it estimates Trump has already played during his first term.
At his current rate, Trump would golf 596 rounds by the end of a hypothetical second term, Trump Golf Count projected.
Any president is entitled to a little relaxation, but c’mon.
It’s time to point out the hypocrisy here.
Between 2011 and 2016, Trump tweeted at least 27 complaints, jokes, or scoldings about Barack Obama playing golf while president.
Like this one where he complained: “We pay for Obama’s travel so he can fundraise millions so Democrats can run on lies. Then we pay for his golf.
We pay for Obama’s travel so he can fundraise millions so Democrats can run on lies. Then we pay for his golf.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2014
Today, American taxpayers paid for Trump’s travel so he could fundraise after he played golf.
Then he suggested a president is too busy to golf:
Can you believe that,with all of the problems and difficulties facing the U.S., President Obama spent the day playing golf.Worse than Carter
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2014
And he mocked Obama for golfing:
President Obama played golf yesterday???
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2013
Then he suggested Obama do this:
Obama should play golf with Republicans & opponents rather than his small group of friends. That way maybe the terrible gridlock would end.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 19, 2012
If only Trump would listen to Trump.
He also ridiculed Obama’s golf and vacation time:
@BarackObama played golf yesterday. Now he heads to a 10 day vacation in Martha’s Vineyard. Nice work ethic.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 15, 2011
For the record, Trump has golfed and vacationed more than any other president his first three and a half years on the job.
Fore!