CNN host Alisyn Camerota said on Monday she believes Fox News would have covered events differently had President Obama skipped a visit to a cemetery in France where American soldiers are buried.
“I shudder to think what would have happened if it had been President Obama, and the drum that Fox News would have beaten for weeks about a U.S. president being too soft to stand in the rain,” said Camerota, who has been a frequent critic of President Trump and Fox News.
“And just the idea that we’re lowering a bar for a U.S. president who isn’t quite comfortable expressing any kind of empathy,” she said.
{mosads}Trump missed a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial Saturday, where American and French soldiers from World War I are buried.
He didn’t make the visit because his helicopter was unable to take off in the rain.
After being criticized for the decision, the White House said Sunday that the “near-zero visibility” in combination with concerns that a sudden motorcade would substantial disrupt Parisian’s lives led the administration to cancel the visit.
“President Trump did not want to cause that kind of unexpected disruption to the city and its people,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, according to ABC.
She added that the trip to Aisne-Marne was 2 1/2 hours each way by car.
On Sunday, Trump delivered remarks honoring those who fell in the first World War, marking the 100th anniversary of the conflict’s conclusion.
“The American and French patriots of World War I embody the timeless virtues of our two republics. Honor and courage. Strength and valor. Love and loyalty, grace and glory,” Trump said at the Suresnes American Cemetery outside of Paris amidst a light rain.
“It is our duty to preserve the civilization they defended and to protect the peace they so nobly gave their lives to secure one century ago.”