Ouch. Bad timing Mr. President. This is a simple mistake of timing that hopefully will not become a big story for the outgoing Commander in chief, but I still think of it as a another minor PR defeat from an administration that has been mired by the same sort of political missteps for the last 8 years. Oh yeah! Almost forgot… congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Nicholson!
The Blaze – Day after deadly Ft. Lauderdale mass shooting, Obama traveled to Florida for different reason. One might say the aftermath of the deadly Fort Lauderdale airport mass shooting hasn’t been one of President Barack Obama’s stronger leadership moments.
After Friday’s shooting, which claimed five lives, Florida Gov. Rick Scott said Obama hadn’t yet contacted him. But Scott, a Republican, did speak to President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence about the attack — which outraged some liberals who said Scott should have first called Obama. The president later contacted Scott, the Hill reported Friday.
Obama on Friday told George Stephanopoulos of ABC News “we’re heartbroken for families who have been affected” and “these tragedies have happened far too often during the eight years that I’ve been president.”
Soon after the interview he and first lady Michelle Obama hosted a celebrity-laden final party at the White House that lasted until the wee hours of Saturday morning. Then Saturday afternoon Obama flew down to Florida — but not to Fort Lauderdale.
He landed in Jacksonville about 6 p.m. for the wedding of one of his top aides, Marvin Nicholson, a White House travel director, WJAX-TV reported. Obama acted as a groomsman for Nicholson, who’s also one of the president’s frequent golfing partners, People reported.
Obama spent about an hour at the wedding and then headed back to the Jacksonville airport, WJAX reported. He returned to Washington that night, People said.
A crowd gathered near the private residence where the nuptials took place, hoping to catch a glimpse of the outgoing Democratic commander-in-chief.
“I got to see him, like, exactly through the window,” Gabriela, who was there with her parents, told the station.
Image source: