Pirate's Cove

We now have the first official Credentialed Media complaint of Trump playing golf because he noted Obama playing golf. This is yet another reason why we say the media has an agenda

Trump, a frequent critic of Obama’s golfing, played 18 holes Sunday with Rory MclIroy

President Trump, who pledged as candidate to limit his golfing to when it was also conducive to conducting business, enjoyed a full round Sunday with Rory McIlroy, one of the best players in the world, a spokeswoman said Monday.

McIlroy rode in the cart for all 18 holes with the president at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., according to No Laying Up, a golfing publication, which also quoted MclIroy saying that Trump “probably shot around 80. He’s a decent player for a guy in his 70’s!”

Trump may have made that pledge, but, I can’t find it anywhere. I see one where he stated he wouldn’t take any big vacations, but, nothing about golf.

As a candidate, Trump often criticized President Barack Obama for his frequent golfing, claiming that Obama played more often than professionals.

“While our wonderful president was out playing golf all day, the TSA is falling apart, just like our government!” Trump said on Twitter last year, referring to the Transportation Security Administration. “Airports a total disaster!”

Trump has also said that he would only play with world leaders and other people with whom he was seeking to make deals. He did that last weekend in Florida with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe — an outing the press was not allowed to witness.

Again, I cannot find that pledge. Regardless, what we have here is a typical media shot at a Republican, in this case Trump, which they wouldn’t take at Obama.

The complaint about Obama playing golf mostly wasn’t aimed at Obama: heck, it would have been better if he spent all his time on the golf course and away from ruining the country. The meme started out over media complaints about President George W Bush playing golf with big things happening in the world, yet, the media had no problem with Obama doing the same. In fact, they constantly either ignored the issue or attempted to defend Obama.

Of course, Bush never did something like come off the golf course to make a brief, disengaged statement when an American, James Foley, had been beheaded by Islamic terrorists, then went on to hit the links. He hit the links after the Berlin attack. After a briefing on the horrendous Louisiana floods. During crisis, he spent a lot of time playing golf and fundraising.

Obama played 306 rounds of golf during his eight years. Trump has a long way to catch up. And, if Trump plays while a crisis unfolds, he deserves a large heaping of abuse. You can bet, though, that the media will suddenly have a renewed interest in the time POTUS spends taking a break to play golf.