Were you, concerned American citizen, dismayed by those pictures of President Obama touring Stonehenge on Friday? Did it bother you that many of the photos showed Obama taking in the prehistoric structure by himself? Former White House press secretary Dana Perino is pretty sure you were.
While her consistently indignant Fox News colleagues Eric Bolling and Kimberly Guilfoyle bashed Obama for making an impromptu visit to the mysterious site, Perino didn’t join the pile-on.
“I don’t mind that the President spent 20 minutes sightseeing and knocking something off of his bucket list,” the former George W. Bush spokesperson said during Friday’s edition of “The Five.”
No, her critique centered around on “optics,” the importance of which is breathlessly emphasized by pundits like Perino.
“But remember this is the White House that says they’re not that worried about optics?” Perino continued. “Today, to show the President of the United States standing alone amongst the rocks, by himself … I would have asked David Cameron or somebody to walk with him. Get some staff or have some — take the pilot, whatever you have to do so you don’t have to, he’s standing alone. I don’t think that’s a good optic.”
For what it’s worth (probably very little), Obama was shown with others while at Stonehenge, a fact that Perino briefly acknowledged. Presumably she wanted more group photos.
