Donald Trump’s decision to embark on a golf retreat amid the ongoing conflict against Iran has led netizens to revisit the comments made by former President George W. Bush regarding the sporting activity during wartime. Bush, who served in office from 2001 to 2009, famously declared that he would quit golf following the August 2003 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad.
George W. Bush’s comment about golf resurfaces amid Donald Trump activity
On March 8, a video on social media showed the current US President playing golf at Trump National Doral in Miami, Florida, on Sunday, while US troops deployed in the Middle East continued their operation.
The reveal not only garnered heavy criticism from the public but also led to the resurfacing of George W. Bush’s statement about indulging in sports while the country is at war.
Talking to Politico in 2008 about a 2003 strike attack that killed Sergio Vieira de Mello, the then-top UN official stationed in Iraq, Bush noted, “I remember when de Mello, who was at the UN, got killed in Baghdad as a result of these murderers taking this good man’s life. I was playing golf — I think I was in central Texas — and they pulled me off the golf course, and I said, ‘It’s just not worth it anymore to do.'”
The veteran Republican added, “I don’t want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander-in-chief playing golf. I feel I owe it to the families to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal.”
Notably, pictures of Donald Trump playing golf came to light just one day before a Pentagon official shared an update regarding American military casualties in the Middle East. Speaking to The Washington Post, the official noted that seven troops had lost their lives in the conflict, while an estimated 140 service members had sustained injuries of varying scale.
Originally reported by Apoorv Rastogi on Mandatory.
