Critics Bash Trump for Brother’s White House Funeral, Mock His Condolence Tweet: ‘You Went Golfing While He Was Dying’

Tommy ChristopherAug 22nd, 2020, 11:30 am
 

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Donald Trump’s critics criticized the private White House funeral he held for recently-deceased brother Robert Trump, and mocked Trump’s tweet memorializing his brother.

Following the service, Trump tweeted “Robert, I Love You. Rest In Peace!”

While many people expressed empathy for Trump, there was also a range of other reactions ranging from modest and veiled criticism to more overt hostility and mockery.

News coverage of the funeral noted the rarity of a White House service, that the last funeral held in the People’s House was that of President John F. Kennedy, and that no relative of a president had been so memorialized in almost 100 years.

On MSNBC’s The ReidOut Friday night, host Joy Reid called the move “odd,” and that “It appeared that this was a response to what we saw this week, that he wanted to show his own sort of image of grieving.”

When Reid asked former Sen. Al Franken if he thought it was appropriate for Trump to hold the service at the White House, Franken replied “Everything he does is inappropriate so — you know, I don’t want to say in this instance, this one instance. Everything else he’s ever done is inappropriate.”

There were news cameras present when Robert Trump’s casket was carried from the North Portico, including video of the procession.

Some verified Twitter users slammed the funeral and Trump’s tweet, and some outright mocked him. Objections to the funeral included the cost to taxpayers and the potential political benefit thereof, as well as speculation over the cause of Trump’s death.

Former NBC executive Mike Sington cracked wise over the funeral, predicting another on Election Day.

Trump’s tweet generated a lot of empathy, including from CNN’s Jake Tapper, who wrote “May Robert Stewart Trump’s memory be a blessing.”

But there was also a great deal of criticism and even mockery. Some of it was low-key, like Washington Post writer Paul Waldman’s brief observation about punctuation.

Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks put a finer point on Reid’s criticism, writing “Trump realizes he’s supposed to grieve for family members after everyone praises @JoeBiden about how he handled his family’s tragedies. It got good ratings!”

Comedian Tom Arnold trolled Trump by writing a reply as a reincarnated Robert Trump.

Some savaged Trump for playing golf the day his brother died.

“You went golfing while he was dying, and posed for a smiling photo with your golf partner, a famous football player. I can’t imagine any human being doing that — literally posing for a smiling photo — while a loved one lay dying in the hospital,” wrote AmericaBlog’s John Aravosis.

Those themes, and others, permeated the responses.

Anonymous White House sources told The New York Times that Trump would be paying the costs for the funeral, but were not specific.

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