White House: ‘It’s fair to say’ we were wrong on Paris unity rally
By Justin Sink – 01/12/15 01:54 PM EST
The White House erred in not sending a higher profile representative to this weekend’s solidarity march in France following a terrorist attack on a satirical newspaper, press secretary Josh Earnest said Monday.
“It’s fair to say we should have sent someone with a higher profile to be there,” Earnest told reporters at the White House.
“Had the circumstances been a little bit different, I think the president himself would have liked to be there,” Earnest added.
The White House said planning for the march had begun only 36 hours before the event, and that the security required for the president to visit would have been “onerous and significant.”
Still, Earnest said, there should be no doubt that the administration and the American people stood in solidarity with France, nor that the United States was “committed to a strong relationship. The United States is with France and committed to the same kind of values they are.”
The White House would not discuss whether it considered sending the president at any point.
Earnest said he did not know why Attorney General Eric Holder, who was in Paris earlier Sunday for a series of high-level counterterrorism meetings, was unable to stay to attend the march. He also said he did not know what the president, who remained at the White House throughout the day, did with his time.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/229217-white-house-we-were-wrong-on-paris
Have any of the people looked at those that marched arm in arm and see how many hypocrites were there that rule over oppressive regimes and do not know what freedom of the press is, no reason for the president to go.
If you hate someone, everything they do or don’t do is offensive. If Obama had gone, everyone at the scene would have complained about the US SS making everyone wait around for them to clear the area around the photo op. Which, face it, is what it was. There are wide angle shots of those world leaders walking down an empty street. They did not “March with millions of French demonstrators”.
And the tea party would complain that we spent the money on a photo op (the cost would have been astronomical on such short notice).
I work with a few French expats and the fact is, nobody in France really cares that Obama didn’t go. Reason one: it was a spur of the moment thing, and reason two: contrary to local opinion, the rest of the world isn’t as hung up on the POTUS as the US is.
It’s a non-issue, and the White House should not have blinked. They can send Kerry over there when he’s done in India and he’ll give them a heartfelt speech in their native tongue and all will be well.
But what else did he have to do that day.
Your right #1-2 Why should he go he’s not a world leader.
Either play golf or take another vacation.
Actions are more important than optics. He missed the Kumbaya party. We still lead in the was on teror.
Yes leading from behind. I just like hear him say Islamic terrorist in the same sentence.
Part of this job is also the theater of it,” Obama said, adding that “it’s not something that always comes naturally to me. But it matters.”
Wow, you people are morons. The President of the US does not just pick up and go to Paris on three days notice, and especially when there are going to be millions of people in the streets.
There is no way Bush would have gone.
But don’t let me interrupt your misinformed frothing. Carry on.
Again with Bush. Give it up its getting old. How do you know if Bush would have gone?
It might be “fair” to say the Administration was wrong on Paris, but if someone were to actually say that, would they be acting in a civil and courteous manner, in accordance with Mayor Aronsohn’s new normal?
Obama is still denying the fact it was an act perpetrated by Islamic terrorists so why would he care? It’s not like any countries rallied to our side in solidarity when we were attacked on 9/11.
Wow… lots of clueless terror enablers living in RW.