On day 24 of the partial government shutdown, President Trump has scheduled a photo op with the Clemson Tigers football team at 6:30 p.m. Monday evening.
Clemson won the College Football Playoff National Championship last Monday, the quickest turnaround for a championship sports team visit during Trump’s administration.
However, it probably should have been put off a little longer since the shutdown is ongoing.
During a shutdown, federal agencies are supposed to be “minimizing all nonessential operations and obligations,” according to FEDweek. If those agencies are running low on funds, then fixing the issue has to be the top priority — especially from an optics standpoint for the president.
[Related: Federal employees file for unemployment as government shutdown becomes longest in history]
After all, there is nothing less essential for Trump than taking a picture with Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and eating fast food and pizza with the team (which Trump said are probably their favorite foods).
It’s not like Trump hasn’t met the Clemson football team before either. They made the White House trip in 2017, and Swinney gave Trump two jerseys: one for himself and another for Barron. Certainly, that’s a nice gesture, but the president and his son already have jerseys, and Trump met with many of these players already two years ago. So it’s hard to call the visit “essential.”
If Clemson wants to come to the White House and Trump wants to host them, that’s obviously fine. There’s a case to be made that these meetings are a waste of the president’s time and they should be eliminated altogether. That way, teams would not be in the awkward spot where they have to make the decision and risk angering fans who lean one way or the other politically.
However, if the visit is going to happen and both parties agree to it, why not wait until the government is fully operating again? Why not wait until federal employees are being paid on time?
Obviously, Trump is committed to getting border wall funding, and the public is growing increasingly warm to the idea: A recent ABC/Washington Post poll showed 42 percent of Americans favor it now. So if it is gaining support as the president stands firm on the issue, perhaps he should continue to give the impression that receiving the funding and reopening the government are his only priorities at this time.
Sure, a photo op is quick and presidents don’t work 24/7, but it gives Trump’s critics some ammo to attack him.
Trump is at a pivotal moment in his presidency. This might be the last chance he has to deliver on his top campaign promise (minus Mexico paying for it). That said, he should try to limit the opposition’s critiques of him and capitalize on the Democrats’ bad optics, like hobnobbing with lobbyists in Puerto Rico over the weekend.
Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports) is a freelance writer who has been published with USA Today, the Boston Globe, Newsday, ESPN, the Detroit Free Press, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Federalist, and a number of other media outlets.
