President Obama has come under heavy criticism, from conservatives and mainstream reporters alike, for going ahead with a speech on the economy even as the mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard was still unfolding. In an interview with Telemundo’s Jose Diaz-Balart, President Obama defended the decision, while side-stepping the main thrust of the criticism, which is that the speech included what’s been described as “partisan attacks” on Republicans.
On Monday, President Obama briefly addressed the Navy Yard shooting that was still unfolding, about four hours after the first shots were fired. He then continued with his speech on the 5th anniversary of the financial crisis, which included criticism of Republicans for threatening to shut down the government. NBC News’ Chuck Todd described the speech’s “odd optics,” while Fox News’ Ed Henry later asked Press Secretary Jay Carney why the President engaged in a “series of attacks on Republicans,” and added “Tonally, did it not seem a little bit off in the middle of this manhunt, people being informed about lives lost to move forward with an attack on the other side?”
In Tuesday’s Telemundo interview, anchor Jose Diaz-Bilart asked the President if it was “bad timing to give a speech on the economy hours after the shooting.”
“Keep in mind I spoke directly to the shooting while we were still gathering information,” the President replied. “I think everybody understands the minute something like this happens, I’m in touch with the FBI, and i’m in touch with the national security team, and we are making sure all the assets are out there to deal with this as well as we can.”
“On the other hand,” he added, “what is also important to remember is that Congress has a lot of work to do right now.”
Gotta love the “conservatives and mainstream reporters alike” line, admitting that the MSM is on the other side.
The headline of this Mediaite post says that The Idiot King defended the speech but it’s plain to see that it was a very weak defense. Yes, we are all aware that he was being kept abreast of the details as they unfolded by the FBI and the national security team. What he doesn’t grasp is that this is precisely what made the speech even more inappropriate. Anybody with an Internet connection knew well before the speech that something horrible was going on. The president was getting details and he still decided that yet another useless economic speech from him was in order.
Why?
Because the speech was what he wanted to do. It was an important component in narrative direction for the press for the upcoming debt ceiling battle. However, even much of the press found this too distasteful to cover, however. It’s also hastening Maureen Dowd’s customary second term Dem POTUS break-up.
This is nothing new for President Obama. He should have pulled the plug on the Syria speech last week after the Kerry/Putin accidental diplomacy train got rolling. And this is the same man who, immediately after learning about the Ft. Hood “workplace violence” went ahead with a speech and grinned as he gave shout outs to people in the audience before mentioning the tragedy.
It’s called “narcissistic personality disorder” kids. Google it.
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