Conservatives Are Super Pissed President Obama is on Vacation, Not Visiting Louisiana (Yet)

Conservatives are super pissed about President Barack Obama finishing up his vacation and not (yet) visiting Louisiana after the historic floods.

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Officials in Louisiana continue to assess and manage the devastating damage caused by unprecedented flooding in the state during the last week, and now, many people are utterly ticked off that President Barack Obama has continued his vacation in Martha's Vineyard instead of visiting Louisiana. In particular, conservative Twitter has been alight with accusations of heartlessness and negligence leveraged at the president, who continues to golf the day away on vacation because, well, Louisiana officials have said it's best he stays away for now. 

In fact, it was Louisiana's governor, John Bel Edwards, who said in a press conference Thursday that while of course the president is welcome to visit at any time, a presidential visit at this time would be a hindrance to relief efforts currently under weigh, according to NOLA.com. Specifically, Edwards said in the press conference that the presidential motorcade would shut down roads (while many roads are closed by default due to immense flooding) and that first responders and local law enforcement need to focus on relief, rather than a visit from the president.

"Quite frankly that is not something that I want to go through right now. And so while the president is welcome to visit, I would just as soon he give us another a week or two, get back to a greater sense of normalcy here," Edwards said, according to the Associated Press. Edwards also said he was in daily communication with the White House and defended the Obama administration's response. 

These realities haven't stopped people from criticizing the president for his absence in Louisiana. A local paper, the Advocate, published an editorial Thursday telling Obama to cut his vacation short to come to Louisiana. The editorial considered the local strain of a presidential visit but argued that doesn't matter now that waters are subsiding:

Sometimes, presidential visits can get in the way of emergency response, doing more harm than good. But we don’t see that as a factor now that flood waters are subsiding, even if at an agonizing pace. It’s past time for the president to pay a personal visit, showing his solidarity with suffering Americans.

The folks of conservative Twitter were a bit less measured in their responses:

The president has yet to publicly comment on the flooding in Louisiana, which has been assessed as the worst natural disaster in the United States since Superstorm Sandy.  His vacation is scheduled to end Sunday.

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