Vice President
Mike Pence is staying at Donald Trump’s Doonbeg luxury
golf course in
Ireland even though he has official meetings in
Dublin across the country a three-hour drive away.
Not to worry, because he’ll be able to fly back and forth on the US taxpayer’s tab.Mike Pence is staying at Trump Doonbeg while he's in Ireland. His meetings, however, are in Dublin. For those not fluent in
Irish geography, the one is not necessarily convenient to the other. pic.twitter.com/fqP6yOBOMC— Derek Wallbank (@dwallbank) September 3, 2019Mike Pence will not brave the traffic to cross the entirety of Ireland for said meetings, it must be pointed out... He will take a plane -- Air Force Two -- for a 1 hour 5 minute flight, Shannon to Dublin.— Derek Wallbank (@dwallbank) September 3, 2019Pence’s stay made for a bizarre two-fer Trump golf course phenomenon on Monday. While the president was playing at his Trump National Golf Club in Sterling,
Virginia (and monitoring the progress of
Hurricane Dorian,
White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham claimed), Pence was at Doonbeg in County Clare.Both Trump and Pence are at Trump properties at this moment on Labor Day. Trump is at his golf course in VA while Pence is staying at a Trump golf course in Ireland, per pool. (CNN photo below) pic.twitter.com/QDcCAcWXmf— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) September 2, 2019Pence has meetings on Tuesday with Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar and Irish President Michael Higgins in Dublin.
Pence, who is traveling with his wife, sister and mother, has ties to Ireland. His grandfather Richard Michael Cawley emigrated from County Sligo to
Chicago in the 1920s. Cawley’s Irish-American wife hailed from Doonbeg, according to the Irish Times.
Though Doonbeg appears to be an inefficient and expensive location for Pence’s work during his visit, the golf club stay serves the president well. Not only is federal money spent at Doonbeg, it gives the business a high-profile advertorial platform to attract customers.
Critics on
Twitter were teed off about the situation.The grift continues. A bloody disgrace and paid by taxpayers.— Kieran Hannon (@kieranhannon) September 3, 2019The VP is staying a 3 hour drive from Irish capital, necessitating costly helicopters, all so that his visit to Ireland can put cash in the boss’s pocket. Normal federal employees go to
prison for such schemes— David Frum (@davidfrum) September 2, 2019He's meeting the president of Ireland at his residence and lunch with the Taoiseach (both events in the phoenix Park) and also the location of the ambassadors residence, where he could have stayed. But he's staying at trump golf on the other side of the country 🙄 pic.twitter.com/Hv34I5F393— Sam (@Sam_Fitzgerald7) September 3, 2019Trump banging the Treasury twice in one weekend— Safiyah Noor (@SafiyahNoor1) September 2, 2019A coordinated effort in the waning days of the Trump administration to steal a few thousand more tax dollars. There is no limit to his greed. pic.twitter.com/gFYpcBoBnG— MOTR Politics (@MOTRPolitics1) September 2, 2019Trumps kleptocracy 😡— Tracey P (@traceyteepee5) September 2, 2019Trump’s own detour to Doonbeg after visiting
London in June ran a hefty $3.6 million in extra costs. The business posted promotional shots on its website of Trump teeing off, but yanked them after HuffPost made queries.After his trip to Doonbeg the president retweeted a Trump Organization advertisement for his three golf resorts in Ireland and
Scotland on the Twitter site he uses for presidential messages to 64 million followers.Related... Trump Attacks 'Incompetent'
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