The White House, stung by criticism that President Obama ignored floods and riots during his two-week vacation, denounced the Senate Monday for taking a seven-week recess while neglecting lethal mosquitoes and a Supreme Court vacancy.
It also rejected comparisons between the “bad optics” of Mr. Obama golfing last week during the flooding and President George W. Bush being photographed flying over flood-ravaged New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
“They’ve got to find something to criticize the president about,” said White House press secretary Josh Earnest. He said although Mr. Obama was on the links during the flooding, “the president was focused on the federal response.”
Singling out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for particular ridicule, Mr. Earnest said it took an “extra-special dose of nerve” for the Kentucky Republican to boast on vacation about blocking Mr. Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Merrick Garland.
“They actually spent their seven-week vacation bragging about not doing their job,” Mr. Earnest said on Monday. He also blasted the Republican-led Senate for failing to approve legislation to provide money to combat the Zika virus; both parties are blaming the other for the impasse.
“I think we now have a pretty good illustration of why congressional Republicans are polling so low,” he said.
At the annual Fancy Farm political picnic in Kentucky earlier this month, Mr. McConnell said “one of my proudest moments” was when he looked Mr. Obama in the eye and told him, “Mr. President, you will not fill the Supreme Court vacancy.”
The president took heavy criticism for failing to interrupt his golf-and-beach vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, to tour flood damage in Louisiana or to address two nights of rioting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He will visit Baton Rouge on Tuesday and meet with local officials about the government’s response to the flooding, which has killed at least 13 people and left tens of thousands homeless.
The White House said Mr. Obama’s belated trip to Louisiana is not a response to Republican nominee Donald Trump touring the widespread flood damage last week.
“Of course not,” Mr. Earnest replied Monday when asked if the president was forced into the trip by Mr. Trump’s action. He said Mr. Obama wasn’t worried about “politically motivated criticism.”
Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is staying away from the flood zone, her campaign said Monday.
Although the president was criticized by some in Louisiana for failing to interrupt his vacation, Mr. Earnest said local officials there “have said very positive things about the federal response” to the floods.
“I think the effectiveness of the response thus far speaks for itself,” he said.
Mr. Earnest said the president has been focused on the response “on the ground,” including declaring a federal disaster to mobilize aid last week and speaking to Gov. John Bel Edwards by phone.
While running for president in 2008, Mr. Obama blasted Mr. Bush as “a president who only saw the people from a window on an airplane instead of down here on the ground, trying to provide comfort and aid.”
During Katrina, Mr. Earnest said, “there were Democrats and Republicans in Louisiana who were critical of the federal government’s response in the immediate aftermath of the storm.”
“What’s different about this situation is that in response to this flood, you’ve got Democrats and Republicans in Louisiana praising the federal response. I think that’s the most significant difference,” he said.
Mr. Bush actually visited the region five days after the storm hit in August 2005; Mr. Obama’s visit comes 10 days after severe flooding began.
White House officials have said Mr. Obama didn’t want to travel to the flood zone too soon because a presidential visit would divert state and local first responders whose priority should be helping residents recover from the disaster.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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