Photo: LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images
On Sunday, Germany’s ChancellorAngela Merkel, France’s PresidentEmmanuel Macron, Canada’s Prime MinisterJustin Trudeauand others gathered at the Élysée Palace, drove to the Arc de Triomphe and walked the rest of the way alongside one another,CNNreported.
Meanwhile, Trump came in a different car “due to security protocols,” White House press secretarySarah Huckabee Sanderstold reporters.
Russia’s PresidentVladimir Putin, whose relationship with Trumphas been the subject of intense scrutiny, gave Trump a thumbs-up sign. He too arrived separately, CNN reported.
CHRISTIAN HARTMANN/AFP/Getty Images
LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images
On Saturday, Trump drew ire for skipping a stop at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial, according to theAssociated Press. The White House said that the rain scuttled plans for Trump to fly there via helicopter.
Among the people criticizing Trump’s decision to opt out were Nicholas Soames, Winston Churchill‘s grandson and a member of Parliament.
“They died with their face to the foe and that pathetic inadequate @realDonaldTrump couldn’t even defy the weather to pay his respects to The Fallen,” Soames tweeted, adding, “#hesnotfittorepresenthisgreatcountry.”
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In its own condemnation of Trump’s absence, the progressive veterans’ group VoteVets referred to Trump’s quip in October that hewas having a “bad hair day”after addressing reporters on a rainy day about the shooting thatkilled 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue.
“Donald Trump complained about having to stand in the rain, to speak about the massacre in Pittsburgh, because it messed his hair up (more),” the group tweeted. “Today, he will skip honoring fallen American heroes of WWI, and stay in his hotel room, because of some rain.”
People on social media were quick to find examples of other politicians braving bad weather. FormerWhite HousephotographerPete Souzaposted anInstagram gallery of timesformer PresidentBarack Obamaappeared in the rain.
Twitter users also resurfaced Trudeau’s2017 speechat the 75th anniversary of the Dieppe Raid, when Trudeau stood in the pouring rain and decided to put down his umbrella.
“As we sit here in the rain, thinking how uncomfortable we must be in these minutes as our suits get wet and our hair gets wet and our shoes get wet, I think it’s all the more fitting that we remember on that day in Dieppe, the rain wasn’t rain,” he said. “It was bullets.”
source: people.com
