Behind the scenes, President Donald Trump has been reported to be sulking and angry in the days since the midterm elections concluded and the GOP officially lost the House. He still, however, appeared at the White House Friday for a Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony, where he awarded the honor to a number of icons, living and dead, including Elvis Presley, Babe Ruth, and Dr. Miriam Adelson. During the ceremony, he offered plenty of his conventional Trump-ian jargon — even within the bounds of the highly formalized proceedings.
After listing off the names of honoree and late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s children, for instance, he commented to his wife, who was present:
‘You were very busy, wow. Wow. I always knew I liked him.’
Journalist Karen Travers noted that the comment “may be a first” at a Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony.
He also injected plenty of his own personal ideology into the proceedings, touting, for instance, the U.S. Embassy in Israel’s move to Jerusalem.
Although the shift preceded some serious violence, Trump glossed right over that, commenting of the longtime GOP supporting Adelsons:
‘They were very happy to see the embassy move to Jerusalem. They were very happy about that, so congratulations on that also. They fought very hard for that — the capital of Israel.’
He shifted even more directly personally speaking of football legend Roger Staubach, turning a formal government ceremony in a time for him to reminisce about golf, something he’s spent a lot of time at — some 159 days and counting, to be exact — since taking office. The spike in presidential vacation contrasts strikingly with his previous criticism of presidential time off.
Seemingly veering off-script, he said:
‘I have to tell you — I had a golf match where Roger was my partner, and we were in deep trouble, and Roger was also in deep trouble. He was so deep in the weeds you wouldn’t believe it. We desperately needed a par on the 18th hole to win — and he came out and hit his shot. I don’t know how it happened, but it was this far from the hole. We got our par. We won — and I said, that’s Roger Staubach.’
The ceremony was marked by plenty of other bizarre behavior from the president, like his comment:
‘People don’t know that. Babe Ruth was one of the best pitchers. He still has records today.’
Most people who know who Babe Ruth is would no doubt be able to piece together that records he made are remarkable and plenty are outstanding even today. His comment otherwise is just more nonsense from the president.
Scroll through the video below for the ceremony.
Trump has fumbled plenty of other high profile proceedings, having completely skipped, for instance, a ceremony in France meant to honor soldiers who died during World War I. He was in the country, but the administration said the rain kept him away — and behind the scenes he’s been reported to have complained that nobody told him skipping a solemn ceremony at a cemetery would make him look bad.
Featured Image via Screenshot from the Video
