Remember all the noise from the right about President Obama’s golfing activities and vacations? The outrage by some on the right over his time away from Pennsylvania Avenue?
Well now after almost six weeks in the office President Trump has spent almost 25% (four out of seven weekends) of his presidency at Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach. Golfing and presumably relaxing with his wife and First Lady Melania. Who as we know will not spend her time living in the White House. All this at great expense to American tax payers.
Where’s the outrage from conservatives and republicans? As we wait to hear even a peep. The hypocrisy of the right again on display.
Donald Trump is believed to have spent almost a quarter of his time as President in the sunshine state of Florida.
The President, who enjoys referring to his Palm Beach estate as the “Winter White House”, has spent four out of seven weekends of his presidency at his 126-room Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach.
As of Sunday, when the billionaire property developer flew out of the resort, he had spent almost 242 hours out of his 1,060 total hours as president in Florida, according to the Palm Beach Post.
While he has spent the majority of his time inside or near his opulent Palm Beach estate, which he purchased for $5 million in 1985, he has also made fleeting visits to Tampa, Melbourne and Orlando.
Mr Trump expressed his fondness for Florida, a state he has been visiting for decades, over the weekend. He referred to it as his “second home” and Mar-a-Lago as the “Southern White House”.
Skip
While Mr Trump and his family enjoy private quarters in a closed-off area of the grounds, the resort is also home to a members club. The Mar-a-Lago Club’s members include real estate developers, energy executives and Wall Street financiers.
On Monday, Democratic senators urged the Trump administration to publicly release logs of visitors to both Mar-a-Lago and the White House.
Mr Trump’s frequent visits to the resort have allowed members extraordinary access to powerful figures in the US government. Visitors have taken photos with Ivanka Trump, the President’s eldest daughter, reading by the pool, and taken selfies with Steve Bannon, Mr Trump’s chief strategist and the former executive chairman of far-right publication Breitbart News.
But the financial burden of his Florida trips could be hitting the taxpayer. An estimate by the Government Accounting Office found trips to Mar-a-Lago could be costing the US taxpayer more than $3 million (£2.4m) per visit.
Full story BELOW THE FOLD.
It is only bad if it is a Democrat doing it.
Well, no. Not exactly.
If things were humming along with 60-65% of Americans happy (but not satisfied, more on that later), our national debt was being managed and sustainable, budgets were realistic – manageable – under control, the world was a safer place, and our national priorities made perfect sense then it would be okay for either or both a dem or repub president to be away 25% of the time. But, that sure as hell ISN’T the situation with Trump and the republicans… Not even close
You know, chances are that the less Trump is in the WH, the better off the majority of us are.
I already have my Impeach Trump t-shirt. I’ll be a wearin it proudly when congress grows a big enough set to actually get serious about considering it..