He smiled for the cameras — and now he’s blaming the press.
President Obama admitted Sunday that playing golf on Martha’s Vineyard soon after talking tough about the militants who beheaded American photojournalist James Foley provided the media with bad “optics” — but suggested that the issue is not with his leadership, but with the theatrics of the presidency and the aggressiveness of the modern press.
“It’s always a challenge when you’re supposed to be on vacation. Because you’re followed everywhere. And part of what I’d love is a vacation from the press,” Obama said during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“But there’s no doubt that after having talked to the families, where it was hard for me to hold back tears listening to the pain that they were going through, after the statement that I made, that you know, I should’ve anticipated the optics (of playing golf).”
He confessed to sometimes feeling awkward when handling the “theater” of the job.
“It’s not something that always comes naturally to me. But it matters. And I’m mindful of that,” Obama said.
But Americans, he added, should judge him on whether his decisions are best for the country.
On Wednesday — one day before the 13th anniversary of 9/11 — Obama will deliver a key speech laying out his strategy to defeat the bloodthirsty Islamic militants, who control pieces of territory in both Iraq and Syria. Last week, the terrorists released a video of the beheading of a second American journalist, Steven Sotloff.
“What I want people to understand . . . is that over the course of months, we are going to be able to not just blunt (their) momentum,” Obama said. “We are going to systematically degrade their capabilities. We’re going to shrink the territory that they control. And ultimately, we’re going to defeat them.”
Obama authorized air strikes in Iraq last month — and more than 140 have been conducted — but signaled that was only the beginning.
“The next phase is now to start going on some offense,” he said.
But he remained firm that he would not send significant numbers of ground troops back into the fighting.
“This is not the equivalent of the Iraq War,” he warned, explaining that the strategy is likely to revolve around continued air strikes coming from a coalition of nations.
Thus far, intelligence has not found that ISIS poses a direct threat to U.S. soil, Obama said.
“We have not seen any immediate intelligence about threats to the homeland,” he said. “But over time . . . it could be a serious threat to the homeland.”
Obama pledged to meet with Congress on Tuesday before speaking to the public about his strategy — a decision met favorably by both parties.
“(Obama) needs to lay out a very certain case,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“He needs to engage Congress, the American people on what exactly we’re going to do here.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) welcomed the announcement, too. “He is now on offense,” the Senate Intelligence Committee chairwoman said on the same program.
“It is overdue, but the President is now there. I think it is the right thing for America.”
One high-profile Republican wasn’t too keen on Obama’s decision-making. Mitt Romney, a two-time loser in presidential politics, needed only two words to answer if he’d be a better commander-in-chief than the man who beat him in 2012.
“No question,” he said, when asked on “Fox News Sunday.”
And what about being a better President than Hillary Clinton, who is likely to run in 2016?
“No question,” he repeated.
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