Feb 21, 2013 No Comments ›› Pat Dollard
Excerpted from Politicker: In a chapel on Rikers Island, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said today that the press shouldn’t be irked about being barred from photographing a round of golf between President Barack Obama and Tiger Woods.
“I don’t know why the president has to have people watch what he does,” said Mr. Bloomberg, responding to a question from CBS’s Rich Lamb during a press conference introducing an anti-recidivism program. “He has a right to a vacation. You take a vacation occasionally, you don’t work 24/7. He does. He works very hard and he certainly has a right to his private life.”
Mr. Obama and Mr. Woods golfed last weekend and some media outlets were frustrated that they were not granted a glimpse of the two together. Indeed, Fox News’ Ed Henry, president of the White House Correspondents Association said they were just “asking for is a brief exception, quick access, a quick photo-op on the 18th green.” He added, “It’s not about golf—it’s about transparency and access in a broader sense.”
But even though Mr. Bloomberg is an avid proponent of being open to the press–he held two question-and-answer sessions today alone–the mayor said the Mr. Obama should be allowed a little down time once in a while.
