Five Former Presidents Came Together Saturday To Raise Money For Hurricane Relief, Trump Went Golfing Instead
Five former U.S. presidents all came together on Saturday to help raise money for hurricane victims, but Donald Trump had other plans — the golf course.
All of the living former U.S. presidents — Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama — were in Texas on Saturday for an event dubbed “Deep From the Heart: The One America Appeal” meant to raise money and awareness for those affected by the devastating hurricanes this year.
The event is being held on the Texas A&M campus and sold out quickly after tickets went on sale. As NBC News noted, the performers include country music band Alabama, gospel legend Yolanda Adams, and legendary Texas musicians Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen.
Though this is one of the rare occasions when all five former U.S. presidents are together at the same time, the current office holder will not be making an appearance — and it doesn’t appear that a busy schedule is keeping him from the event. As The Hill noted, Donald Trump is heading to his Virginia golf course for the third consecutive weekend.
Trump did get some work done before departing the White House for his round of golf, the report noted. Earlier in the morning, Trump took to Twitter to continue his feud with Congresswoman Frederica Wilson over Trump’s “disrespectful” phone call to the family of Army Sgt. La David Johnson, who was killed in an ambush in Niger.
Wilson said she overheard the call in which Trump told Johnson’s widow that “he knew what he signed up for, but I guess it hurts anyway.” Trump has denied the claims, though Johnson’s mother confirmed that Trump did use those words.
It is not clear if Donald Trump would have been invited to attend the benefit concert on Saturday — he does not enjoy a good relationship with any of the five former U.S. presidents — but his decision to go golfing instead has drawn criticism. A report from the left-leaning ThinkProgress criticized Trump for continuing to go golfing while recovery efforts in Puerto Rico are facing major obstacles and many remain without power or food.
Trump has spent 1 out of every 3 days as president at a Trump property, 1 out of every 4 days at a Trump golf club. https://t.co/ecKA3NtbBt
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 14, 2017
Others have criticized the rate at which Donald Trump has been golfing, especially after Trump frequently railed against then-President Obama for his golf trips.
While Donald Trump will not be making an appearance at the benefit concert alongside the five other former U.S. presidents, he may be able to watch some of the event. The “Deep From the Heart: The One America Appeal” event will be streamed live on the internet, and can be found in the embedded video above.
[Featured Image by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images]
