Copyright Atlanta Black Star
President Donald Trump was supposed to look busy this weekend — at least according to a glossy Oval Office photo blasted out by Sen. Markwayne Mullin. But the whole thing blew up when viewers zoomed in and realized the picture didn’t match reality. Instead of “working through the weekend,” Trump was actually golfing in Florida, and the photo Mullin used to cover for him only made the embarrassment worse. Apparently trying to show his boss working hard in the Oval Office over the weekend as the government shutdown dragged on, the Republican posted a series of photos showing Trump meeting with himself and Republican Sens. Tim Sheehy of Montana and Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi. There’s just one problem. Trump was actually golfing over the weekend in Palm Beach, Florida, at the exact moment Mullin posted the pictures. ‘Shut Off the Mic!’: Trump Throws a Tantrum Mid-Speech After Obama Calls Him a ‘Mean’ Name — Then He Let Slip Just How Far His Obsession Has Spiraled He captioned the post at 11:52 am on Saturday, “Working through the weekend with President Donald J. Trump. It’s always an honor to be in the Oval Office – I never take this opportunity to serve Oklahoma for granted.” “Liar! Trump is golfing in FL,” Threads poster Eleanor Ames proclaimed.“How can you be working with him in the Oval Office if he’s in Florida?” another Threads user pointed out. According to White House pool reports, Trump’s motorcade left Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, at 8:35 a.m. on Nov. 8 and arrived at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach at 8:44 a.m. That’s certainly not enough time to make it back to D.C. in time to align with Mullin’s social media post timeline. Even worse, the Oval Office meeting took place on Nov. 7, according to The Associated Press. “Gack, @senmullin is such a moron,” and “Lying when you don’t even have to. There is a name for that,” this Threads user declared. “MarKwAyNe is not only stupid, but a bad liar as well,” another observed. Within minutes of Mullin’s post, viewers zoomed straight past his caption and locked onto Trump’s desk — where the details in those photos told deepened the embarrassment. Scattered across Trump’s desk were printouts of his Truth Social posts. “While Mullin is trying to say how Trump is working so hard, his desk is covered in printed Truth Social posts and this weird ass picture behind his desk,” an X user keenly observed. “Ah, yes, the tireless work of printing out and giving Trump color copies of his own tweets,” another posted. Another added as they observe Trump with pen in hand as he held the printout, “And presumably he heard “autograph” instead of “here’s a graph” bc what in the world is he signing that for.” Some viewers were just plain confused with comments from “What? Why? For what purpose?” to “Why are you lying, what are you trying to cover up?” Trump was spotted playing golf on Saturday as the historic government shutdown dragged on. Trump has continued his schedule for the past month unbothered by the shutdown that began on Oct. 1, including golfing weekends in Florida and a trip overseas. And he’s weathered intense criticism over the past weeks for his handling of the shutdown, which stretched into 40 days Sunday, the longest government closure in history, surpassing the 35-day shutdown during Trump’s first term. The Senate finally passed a funding bill Sunday night with help from eight Democrats — technically seven, as Maine Sen. Angus King is an independent who caucuses with Democrats — who joined the GOP voting to reopen the government, according to CNN. Democrats had been holding out, demanding that a stopgap funding bill include provisions to extend subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, which are set to expire at the end of the year. The Senate bill now heads to the House, which is still not in session. House Speaker Mike Johnson sent members home on Sept. 19, the day that the chamber passed a continuing resolution spending bill and sent it to the Senate. Ironically, some lawmakers may have a hard time getting back to Washington. Forty of the nation’s busiest airports have reduced flights by 6 percent on Tuesday, CNN reported, with The Guardian adding that 1,100 flights were canceled and 540 more delayed. Air traffic controllers have now missed two full paychecks, and the Federal Aviation Administration says absences and stress among the controllers have made it necessary to cut flights. Even if the government reopened today, there’s still a significant concern that the prolonged shutdown will affect Thanksgiving travel.
