In the past, presidents have done community service or visited memorials on MLK day like Barack Obama and George W Bush. Trump's decision to have an open schedule and not participate in any Martin Luther King Jr Day events comes at a time when there are already tensions over his reported remarks of calling Haiti and African nations "shithole countries," which can only make tensions rise further and increase controversy and criticism.
However, President Trump did retweet a video posted by the White House, which featured his weekly address, in which he says "on this cherished day, we honor the memory of Reverend King. And we rededicate ourselves to a glorious future, where every American from every walk of life can live free from fear, liberated from hatred and uplifted by boundless love for their fellow citizens." Regardless though, some people are still mad, such as John Lewis, a civil rights activist who marched alongside King Jr, who said "the MLK holiday is a day on, not a day off. It is a day of service to our communities, to our brothers and sisters."
What do you think? Does Donald Trump take too many trips and days off? Does this lack of participation on MLK day heighten already high tensions?
Sources:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-mlk-day-golf_us_5a5cc0b2e4b03c418967bad2?section=us_politics
5 comments:
It is outright ridiculous that we are working hours and hours to pay taxpayer money that goes to funding these elaborate golf field trips that Donald Trump is enjoying. To be honest, I believe it Republicans ought to become more vocal and critical of Trump and his actions. The federal government is already in a huge deficit from what we learned in class. Trump's reckless vacation spending is only worsening the growing US deficit. If Trump truly wants to make America great again, he ought to spend some of his vacation money building national infrastructure, increasing funding for veterans affairs, subsidizing businesses so they do not outsource jobs to Mexico, etc. and other campaign promises he has made.
I think Trump's golfing is extremely hypocritical. It is well-known that Trump criticized President Obama for spending too much time golfing, having played 333 rounds of golf during his eight years. Trump is projected to reach that number before finishing his first term. And that's not the only pointless expense Trump has cost the federal government, as Frank pointed out. He is making money off of his days off by visiting his own institutions and forcing the government to pay for it.
I don't think Trump refraining from volunteer work yesterday was a huge influence on the strikingly high tensions. Were the tensions lower, it might have made a noticeable difference, but at this point the tensions are so high that it's hard to raise them at all.
Putting aside the good points that both Frank and Aech made and my own feelings about Trump's golfing, I honestly think this is a huge missed opportunity for Trump. Since Trump has been under fire recently, as Iman mentioned in his post, for his potentially racist comments and insinuations, this could have been a great opportunity to boost his public image. It is unfortunate that community service on such an important holiday must be view as a publicity stunt in these times, but to be honest, that is the nature of politics, especially in our country. By choosing to almost ignore this holiday and go golfing instead, Trump is simply adding insult to injury, and is not helping to back up his claim that he is not a "racist".
There is no doubt that Donald Trump spends too much time golfing and not focusing on the nation's largest issues. For example, during the severe hurricanes and floods that occurred throughout the end of 2017, Trump was golfing. Although, honestly I am not surprised that he did not pay respects on MLK day... I mean it's Trump. If anything, if Trump would have chose to volunteer he would have received loads of criticism for being a hypocrite. I rather have him refrain from getting involved in events like these when he makes racist and cruel remarks about the exact people MLK fought for than to show up just for publicity.
A huge amount of money is wasted just on the security needed to protect Trump alone. Concerning what Frank said about the Republicans reprimanding Trump, I do not think they will ever do that. This is because the Republicans have a large influence on policy making because they have a connection to the executive branch through Trump. If they start fighting against Trump, then the public will be further aggravated by Trump's actions. Furthermore, the Republicans will lose their upper hand in the executive office if they do target Trump's questionable actions. I believe we should have seen this coming once Trump became president. He is known to be a very self-centered individual, and his actions as president definitely reflect this behavior. Trump is breaking a tradition set by the presidents before him, which is definitely hurting his already broken reputation. Trump was never liked by minorities, and this only adds more straw to the camel's back, as the saying goes. Sooner or later, if Trump keeps this habit of his, there will be a huge backlash against Trump.
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