The editorial board of a Louisiana newspaper has called on President Obama to cut his vacation in Martha’s Vineyard short to visit the devastation from recent flooding in the state.
The Advocate, a Baton Rouge-based paper, criticized Obama for spending his multi-week vacation in wealthy Martha’s Vineyard while Louisiana experienced historic flooding that has killed at least 13 people and displaced tens of thousands more in the state.
"Last week, as torrential rains brought death, destruction, and misery to Louisiana, the president continued his vacation at Martha’s Vineyard, a playground for the posh and well-connected," the Advocate wrote.
The editorial also compared Obama’s response to the crisis to the federal government’s poor response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
And if the president can interrupt his vacation for a swanky fundraiser for fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton, as he did on Monday, then surely he can make time to show up for a catastrophe that’s displaced thousands.
The optics of Obama golfing while Louisiana residents languished in flood waters was striking. It evoked the precedent of the passive federal response to the state’s agony in 2005, a chapter of history no one should ever repeat.
The editorial board did compliment Obama for already declaring the flooded areas national disaster zones, which then allows for federal aid to be rapidly brought to the state.
Obama began his vacation on Aug. 6 and has played at least eight rounds of golf since arriving on Martha’s Vineyard.