Donald Trump's son Eric Monday claimed his father shamed President Barack Obama into planning a trip to flood-stricken Louisiana Tuesday, a contention the White House later in the day soundly denied.
"If my father didn't go down there and put the pressure on him, Obama wouldn't be down there," Eric Trump told Fox News' "Fox & Friends" program, complaining about the "optics" created by Obama staying on vacation while his father and running mate Mike Pence visited Louisiana on Friday.
"Here you are in Martha's Vineyard playing golf for a week on end, while people's houses are under water, while their lives are destroyed, cars are under water," said Trump. "You have coffins floating down the street. The optics of it is horrible. We live in America. Your government should be there in a natural disaster and it wasn't. The fact that Hillary was fundraising while my father and Mike Pence were off loading goods from trucks, it just tells a story and the difference in leadership qualities."
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards initially said he was concerned the Trump-Pence trip into his state would turn into a photo opportunity, but later thanked Trump for bringing attention to the flood disaster. Trump's son on Monday said he appreciated the statement.
Obama's delay in visiting the state "speaks to the lack of leadership in this country," Trump told the morning program. "I can tell you as a guy who's been around my father his entire life. When there is a problem, when there is a natural disaster, when there is an issue, my father will be the first person there."
The White House, though, on Monday denied the claims that Obama's plans to visit the region this week was because he'd been pressured.
"Of course not," White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said during this week's press briefing Monday afternoon. "The president is focused on the response on the ground and the people's lives there are turned upside down. The response from the federal government has been effective and the president and the other members of his team that have operational responsibilities, have been effective and you don't have to take my word for it. I would refer you to local officials in Louisiana who said positive things about the federal response, including Republicans and the highest ranking Republican who built his career on criticizing the administration."
It is "nice to have the president visit" so long as the government's team is working on the ground, said Earnest, and Obama was prepared, after talking with the Louisiana governor eight days ago, to issue a disaster declaration.
Also on Monday, Trump's son rejected reports that his father had "flip-flopped" on his stance on illegal immigration after a meeting with key Hispanic leaders over the weekend.
"My father has been speaking about immigration all week, so I won't steal his thunder and fire," said Trump. "But it's pretty simple. He wants to secure borders. You can't let people come in unchecked."
And, he continued, "My father hasn't flip-flopped on anything. This was one article that came out that didn't really, wasn't grounded in any substance. But again my father will give a big speech on this on Thursday so he'll be talking about the specifics."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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