President Obama conceded in an interview that he shouldn’t have played golf right after delivering a statement on the beheading of journalist James Foley by the Islamic State.
Obama, in an interview with new “Meet The Press” host Chuck Todd, said the “optics” weren’t good. The president said he should have been more aware of how it would look for him to retreat to the links just after discussing such a serious subject, even though he was in the middle of his vacation.
“Part of this job is also the theater of it. Part of it is, how are you — it’s not something that always comes naturally to me, but it matters and I’m mindful of that,” Obama said during a wide-ranging discussion on NBC’s Sunday morning public affairs program.
However, Obama added that he’s has been right on national security policy when it comes to protecting Americans, and said that that is “the most important thing.” Following is the full answer he delivered when Todd asked him if he regrets playing golf immediately after speaking about Foley’s murder, edited for clarity.
“It is always a challenge, when you’re supposed to be on vacation, because you’re followed everywhere, and part of what I love is a vacation from the press … Because the possibly of a jarring contrast, given the world’s news is — there’s always going to be some tough news somewhere, is going to be there. But there’s no doubt that, having talked to the families, where it was hard for me to hold back tears listening to the pain that they were going through, after the statement that I made, that I should have anticipated the optics, that’s part of the job. I think everybody who knows me, including I suspect the press, understands that you take this stuff in and it’s serious business … But part of this job is also the theater of it. Part of it is, how are you — it’s not something that always comes naturally to me, but it matters and I’m mindful of that. The important thing is, in addition to that, is, am I getting the policies right, am I protecting the American people am I doing what’s necessary, and when it comes to the policies, when it comes to the actions we’ve taken I have no higher priority than keeping the American people safe, I think I’ve done a very good job during the course of these last six years of doing so.”
