OBAMA/SEAN SPICER/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The White House got stuck in the rough Monday [3-20-17] after President Trump’s Press Secretary Sean Spicer defended his boss’s frequent golf outings by claiming the commander-in-chief uses the game differently than former President Barack Obama did.
Trump, who just eight weeks into office has already made 10 trips to green, was a repeated and vicious critic of his predecessor’s penchant for playing the game — but the criticism shouldn’t apply to the current White House occupant because he uses the game to ‘help U.S. interests.’
‘You saw him utilize this as an opportunity with (Japanese) Prime Minister Abe to help foster deeper relationships in Asia,’ Spicer said during his press briefing Monday when asked about the apparent hypocrisy.
‘How you use the game of golf is something that he’s talked about,’ he added.
‘So many people (are) jumping to the conclusion that he was going down and playing golf. Just because you go somewhere doesn’t necessarily mean you did it,’ Spicer clumsily contended.
‘So on a couple occasions, he’s actually conducted meetings there,’ he added, before saying that Trump simply deserved some privacy on the course.
‘The President is entitled to a bit of privacy at some point,’ he said.”
-Adam Edelman, “Sean Spicer claims President Trump’s frequent golf outings are used to ‘help U.S. interests’,” The New York Daily News, March 20, 2017