Donald Trump decided to carry on Saturday as if it was business as usual. Only it’s never business as usual for Trump. Even before appearing in Indianapolis at the national Future Farmers of America (FFA) convention, some were questioning why he was coming at all. The Indy Star reports:
Prior to Trump’s visit, the FFA received pushback from current and former members, as well as at least one parent, expressing concerns about the president’s tone and values. FFA CEO Mark Poeschl defended the decision to invite Trump and said the organization invites every sitting president.
“We do that regardless of political party. We do that regardless of popularity,” Poeschl said. “We do that regardless of policy because for our students something of this sort can be the experience of a lifetime for them, to get to listen to and be in the same room as the president of the United States.”
During the speech, it seemed as if Trump didn’t realize this wasn’t a campaign rally. The audience was made up primarily of middle school and high school students.
https://twitter.com/spettypi/status/1056277869729591296
Trump also talked about how he almost canceled because he was having a bad hair day.
Trump jokes that he considered cancelling speech to FFA not b/c of the mass shooting in Pittsburgh, but b/c his hair got wet while talking w/reporters about the shooting.
“At least you know it’s mine… I said, ‘maybe I should cancel this arrangement b/c I have a bad hair day.’” pic.twitter.com/wLIlqQpENj
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 27, 2018
Speech is over. That would’ve been extremely strange even if there hadn’t been a mass murder today.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 27, 2018
Perhaps the most controversial part of this appearance is that it seemed to be a campaign event funded by the taxpayers.
I used to be the White House lawyer responsible for the Hatch Act. If any taxpayer funds were used to pay for this event, given what Trump said, that would be illegal. Press should demand to know if campaigns will reimburse taxpayers for this event. https://t.co/HK8vZRItLq
— Ian Bassin 🇺🇦 (@ianbassin) October 28, 2018
This isn’t the only time questions have been raise over Trump’s use of taxpayer funds for campaign-style events. Now a handful of Senators are asking the White House whether “the president has fully repaid taxpayers for his use of government resources to conduct political and campaign events.”
Sens. Wyden, Markey and Merkley are demanding answers from the White House about Trump's use of Air Force One for political purposes, saying taxpayers shouldn't be footing the bill for partisan campaign events. https://t.co/hUXA1VaE55
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 28, 2018