It is pretty easy to track when presidential golf outings started to matter. George W. Bush talked to reporters as he lined up for a tee shot. He discussed the opening battles in the Iraq war and followed up his statement with, “Now, watch this drive.” For a man famously prone to gaffes and poor judgment when it came to addressing the press, that statement was both offensive and jaw-droppingly stupid. Bush didn’t play another round during the initial phases of the war.

Ex-President Obama had it even worse. Republicans made it a point to notice that Obama happened to be black. The sight of a beautiful black family climbing the stairs to Air Force One for a Christmas vacation in Hawaii sent the right into hysterics, but that was nothing compared to shots of a black man out enjoying golf with some other friends, most of them white. What was a black man doing at a country club? Who did this black president think he was, anyway? Almost none of these critics knew that Obama played golf almost solely at the military course next to Andrew’s Air Force base, a base already sealed off to to the public and infinitely easier for the Secret Service to secure. Still, Fox Network and other Right-Wing outlets began counting Obama’s golf outings.

And then came Trump. Trump is the guy who, during the campaign, said he couldn’t imagine wanting to play golf when ensconced in the White House, running the country and all. He quickly got over it once elected and played so much golf during disasters it became deeply offensive. The sheer number of outings were bad enough, But Trump played his own private courses, forcing the Secret Service to rent carts from his club and eat overpriced and underwhelming food at said club. In other words, Trump made money with every golf outing.

For the above reasons, none of which mean anything except perhaps more Trump grifting, golf became a thing with presidents, and Huffington post wants people to know that Biden is just not keeping up:

As of Sunday, after Biden played two weekend rounds in Delaware, the current president had logged nine golf outings, compared with at least 36 for Trump at the same point in his presidency, according to former CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller. Former President Barack Obama had golfed 20 times at this juncture, and former President George W. Bush seven, Knoller noted in a tweet.

Biden Golf Scoreboard

By my count, Biden today playing 9th round of golf as Pres. Compares at same point in presidency with:

TRUMP – at least 36
OBAMA – 20
GW BUSH – 7

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) September 12, 2021

The Right will chalk it up to being feeble and unable to keep score. In reality, Joe Biden is likely fairly busy. Does any of this matter? One would have to ask Newsmax.

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