CHILMARK, Mass. (AP) – Criticized whenever he goes on vacation, President Barack Obama is on par with most Americans, who average four leisure trips a year, travel industry data shows.
But his decision to forge ahead with a two-week break on the Massachusetts island of Martha’s Vineyard and spend hours on the golf course amid major foreign policy crises has teed up his critics and again forced the White House to confront the issue of whether there is ever a good time for a president to go on vacation.
Obama has played eight rounds of golf since he arrived on Aug. 9, including immediately after he delivered an angry statement to the nation on Wednesday condemning the beheading of American journalist James Foley by Islamist militants.