No, President Trump did not “stare” at the sun
Though he glanced, Americans quickly shed light on #FakeNews analysis.
The press wastes no time spotlighting stories that darken President Donald Trump’s character or smarts.
The latest in #FakeNews histrionics is that Trump stared directly into the sun while he and First Lady Melania Trump joined millions of Americans in experiencing the solar eclipse. Some examples of the headlines:
- Not too bright’: Trump trolled for staring at the eclipse with no eye protection
- Trump Stares at the Sun During the Eclipse: Will It Harm His Eyes?
- Donald Trump stares into solar eclipse without safety glasses, while aides shout ‘don’t look!’
CNN’s coverage was, perhaps, the most mocking and derisive. Its published report started with 3 photos in quick succession, with a snark-filled comment under each, and continued with more condescension.
Yes, Donald Trump really did look into the sky during the solar eclipse https://t.co/jihhOCHdoi via CNN’s Chris Cillizza pic.twitter.com/iwyFZd6ewo
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) August 21, 2017
That’s Donald John Trump on the White House South Portico, seemingly looking directly into the sun. At the peak of the solar eclipse. Without any sort of protective eyewear on.
This, from the White House pool report of the moment filed by the Guardian’s Ben Jacobs is, um, amazing: “At approximately 2:39, the President initially gesticulated to the crowd below and pointed at the sky. As he did so, one of the White House aides standing beneath the Blue Room Balcony shouted ‘don’t look.'”
Trump did, eventually, put on protective eyewear — as did first lady Melania Trump.
On the other hand, the Boston Globe offers a more sober and accurate account of the President’s actions.
Shortly after Monday’s eclipse, photos of the president appearing to stare up at the sun from a White House balcony circulated online, with many mocking Trump for not donning protective eyewear first.
But videos showed that Trump wasn’t as cavalier as the still images made it seem: He looked up for a brief moment with his naked eyes beforehand in what appeared to be a joking manner before putting on his glasses.
Later, Trump — first flanked by his wife Melania and then joined by his son Barron — donned the protective glasses to stare at the eclipse for a few minutes before sporadically taking them off, and then merely glancing upwards for a second here and there before looking back down and putting the eyewear back on.
Several eclipse-viewers were quick to catch onto the #FakeNews: This included people who aren’t fans of President Trump:
Literally pains me to say this but it’s fake, trump was wearing glasses thru the eclipse, took me off at the end & took one glance back
— Tammy (@Shoeprincss7) August 22, 2017
Trump vile egregious putz, but his quick squinting glance at eclipse no more stupid than quick glance at regular sun, as all routinely do. https://t.co/5VxunDF898
— Mike Nitabach (@mnitabach) August 21, 2017
Others put the presidential actions into proper perspective:
It’s not more dangerous to glance at the sun during eclipse. It’s just easier to stare then, so don’t. Trump = facts not fake news, again
— Bill DeWitt (@Baerdric) August 21, 2017
Yet, other #TrumpHaters, who need very little to set them off, unleashed a TweetStorm about the initial report that was as classy and circumspect as you might expect.
I really hope cheeto ass trump is blind from looking at the solar eclipse. Would make my 2017.
— Thalia (@thaliasirena) August 22, 2017
Trump’s dumb ass didn’t wear the eclipse glasses let’s all hope he goes blind or drops dead
— LilEsBella (@LilEsBella) August 21, 2017
Though some intepid #NeverTrumpers did find something positive to say about the action.
I like that trump’s consistent. At least when he says he doesn’t believe in climate change, he also stares at the sun during the eclipse
— Kobi Jaro (@kobijaro) August 22, 2017
On a more scientific note, this was the most watched solar eclipse in history. Thousands of volunteers joined professional scientists to collect valuable data on the sun:
More than 50 NASA-funded research balloons were launched to observe the eclipse from above the clouds. NASA is watching from the ground, air and space with 11 different spacecraft, astronauts on the International Space Station and chase planes.
Along the path, 68 telescope sites were set up under Citizen CATE (Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse), a collaboration of scientists, students and volunteers all using identical equipment to measure the inner corona.
The scientists will be analyzing the data for some time to come. It is also quite likely that the American press will continue generating #FakeNews about President Trump into the foreseeable future as well.
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Comments
When I was a kid, there was a partial eclipse, and there were all sorts of safety panic reminders from the supposed adults in the school system about it. Made me wonder if there was something unusual about the light during an eclipse that was somehow more dangerous.
The only real danger is overexposure. Look too long and you’ll burn out your retinas. But a quick glance is no worse than any day where you accidentally look at the sun. The amount of frenetic warnings over the possibility of staring too long made it sound as if a moment’s exposure would permanantly scar the eye.
So combine the modern derangements of the media with the long-embedded eclipse safety panic, and such a tale is unsurprising. Just looking up at a bird or aircraft that chose to fly into an inopportune section of sky will result in the same amount of risk to eyesight. And that sort of incident is far more common, at least for me.
Hey CNN, yeah that’s right, our POTUS stared at the sun,,,and the sun blinked.
If President Trump really stared at the sun, then we should soon be reading articles about his tragic blindness. Will CNN, Yahoo, and the rest get back to us on that?
Fake news.
Then there’s this fake Republican – who agrees with the fake news:
McConnell undercuts Trump’s claim: ‘Most news is not fake’
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/21/mitch-mcconnell-trump-fake-news
Just more blundering from the hateful media.
So desperate to harm Trump they will lie about something
so stupid.
CNN you came across as really stupid,someone with a grudge
trying to even some score with President Trump. You failed again!
Pass it on CNN sucks!
Well, well, well, we know what precautions Obama takes when is is doing risky stuff. See this picture.
https://gopthedailydose.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/obama-training-wheel-bike-286×300.jpg
And he still fell.
Unfortunately, he got back up.
My favorite part of the eclipse coverage was all the Gore-sucking morons trying to say that Eclipse = Science! therefore you must believe in Gore-bull Warming. Of course, any moron who says this instantly belies their complete lack of understanding of what the Scientific Method is and how it works.
I cannot help but be amused by all the fools mocking Trump’s stupidity. Do they not know how stupid they are to believe every thing they see and hear so long as it’s anti-Trump? To hell with the facts if it’s anti-Trump is must be true.
Oh and mental midgets,just FYI, most people “glance” at the sun from time to time just like Trump did. The usual anti-Trump hysteria over nothing.
Pretty much every time I drive to or from town (morning and evening) I do a LOT to avoid being blinded by the sun. Can’t be helped if you are traveling east-west.
Yep, day-trips from Austin to Houston for business can be a real bummer.
Self-driving cars can’t get here fast enough as far as I’m concerned.
Trump stared at the sun, and the sun blinked first.
CNN: “That’s Donald John Trump on the White House South Portico, seemingly looking directly into the sun. At the peak of the solar eclipse. Without any sort of protective eyewear on.”
Repeat: “At the peak of the solar eclipse.”
You mean, during totality, which is what most people consider the “peak”, and during which experts universally say it’s totally safe to look without the glasses? (Heck, you won’t see anything if you keep the glasses on during totality!)
Hey, CNN: do you even English, bro?
#fail
Um, no. In Washington DC the eclipse never became total, so at its peak the risk of looking too long at the sun and not turning away fast enough to avoid damage was also at its peak.
There was a report that the eclipse was “racist” since it didn’t pass over a diverse set of communities.
No, there wasn’t. Many right-wing blogs, including this one, had fun with an Atlantic article focusing on this phenomenon, which went to the trouble of explicitly stating that this was obviously not due to the solar system’s racism. Some of the fun was from the fact that the author thought it necessary to say that.