Trump heads to his own golf club as Covid-19
surges and jobless benefits expire
President makes 283rd golfing trip of his term,
according to CNN count, as coronavirus death toll passes 153,000
Guardian
staff
Sat 1 Aug
2020 17.09 BSTLast modified on Sat 1 Aug 2020 22.46 BST
Donald
Trump prompted a familiar barrage of criticism on Saturday by visiting one of
his own golf clubs as the country remains caught in numerous intensifying
crises, from the raging coronavirus epidemic to anti-racism protests to the
failure to extend benefits to tens of millions of jobless Americans.
Trump
arrived at his Virginia golf club in the morning, according to a report from
the White House pool, after leaving Washington via motorcade and dressed in his
usual golfing attire of a baseball cap and a polo shirt.
CNN, which
tallies Trump trips to his golf clubs, reported that the visit was Trump’s
283th trip to a golf course while in office and his 376th day at a Trump
property.
In the 2016
campaign, and before, Trump often lambasted then president Barack Obama for his
visits to the golf course and claimed that he would be too busy to play the
sport if he was president. Since taking office, Trump’s visits to golf courses
have far outpaced those of Obama.
Trump’s
latest visit comes as the death toll in the US from the coronavirus tops
153,000 with more than 4.5 million positive cases – by far the largest totals
in the world. It also happens as Washington fails to agree on an extension to a
vital $600 weekly payment to jobless Americans – who will now lose that
benefit.
The visit
triggered much online criticism, including from some anti-Trump Republicans.
“I’m glad
he’s playing golf. I’d pay him to play golf for the rest of his Presidency. The
country would be much safer and much better off if all he did was golf for the
next 5-6 months,” tweeted Joe Walsh, a former Republican congressman who ran a
brief and unsuccessful bid to oust Trump as the party’s nominee in the 2020
election.
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