President Barack Obama Played Golf on 7 Out of 8 Memorial Day Weekends

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President Donald Trump has taken criticism from his opponents and the media for golfing on Memorial Day weekend. But his predecessor, President Barack Obama, golfed on seven of the eight Memorial Day weekends of his presidency.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic Party nominee to challenge Trump in the fall, tweeted a criticism that Trump was golfing on Saturday, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic:

The media echoed that criticism.

However, President Obama was notorious for golfing — even when the country was at war, or in mid-crisis. And he golfed on Memorial Day weekend every year but one. According to the tally at trumpgolfoutings.com, Obama golfed:

The only exception was in 2010, when Obama went back to visit Chicago — and drew criticism from conservatives for failing to lay a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day to mark the occasion. (He laid a wreath at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery near Chicago, instead.)

In a series of tweets, President Trump responded to the criticism, noting it was the first time he had golfed in months — and that Obama had infamously golfed after speaking briefly about the beheading of American James Foley by ISIS:

Trump also returned to the golf course as several states began opening public amenities for recreation, and after Dr. Deborah Birx of his coronavirus task force told Americans to enjoy the outdoors while observing “social distancing.”

Before Saturday’s outing, Trump last golfed on March 8, 2020.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, is available for pre-order. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

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