I am very certain that President Biden should stay in the race. I am not so sure that he should agree to a golf match with known golf cheat Donald Trump.
Or maybe President Biden should agree with one condition: the game must take place at a public or military golf course of Trump’s choosing. Meaning no private courses and certainly no courses Trump owns. Or is Trump too scared to golf at an unfamiliar course?
Trump did already name one of his own golf courses for the match. Ryan Morik for Fox News through MSN: [direct links to Fox News have been removed]
After the two presidential candidates got into a heated discussion about their golf handicaps [at the June 27 debate], former [Oval Office occupant] Donald Trump now wants to walk the walk.
At his rally at his Doral course in south Florida, [Trump] challenged President Biden to a golf match, even offering $1 million to a charity of Biden's choice if he [(Trump)] were to lose.
"I'm also officially challenging crooked Joe to an 18-hole golf match right here on Doral's Blue Monster, considered one of the greatest tournament golf courses anywhere in the world, one of the great courses of the world," Trump said. "It will be among the most-watched sporting events in history. Maybe bigger than the Ryder Cup or even the Masters.”
"And I will even give Joe Biden 10 strokes a side. Ten strokes, that's a lot. That means 20 strokes, in case you don't play golf. And if he wins, I will give the charity of his choice, any charity of his choice, $1 million. And I'll bet you he doesn't take the offer."
Not that I put any stock in Trump’s claim of a charitable donation, but I have a couple of ideas: the ACLU or the Wounded Warrior Project.
President Biden has his own ideas about Trump’s golf challenge.
Even if President Biden doesn’t do all that well on the score sheet, he would look much more physically fit than Trump by simply walking from hole to hole and carrying his own bag.
Much more importantly, however, I think this presents an opportunity to hammer Trump on his self-dealing, on how he price gouges the Secret Service. Jordan Libowitz and Caitlin Moniz did an investigation for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).
One of the defining features of the Trump [maladministration] was how much time he spent golfing. It’s not just that he spent nearly a quarter of the days of his presidency at a golf course, it’s that he almost exclusively did so at courses that bear his name. ... While we cannot know for sure which [of his] courses he was at, the records show the Secret Service spending more than $850,000 at his golf properties, with reported numbers outside of the records obtained by CREW bringing the likely total closer to $1 million.
Remember how Trump used to accuse Hillary Clinton of having businessmen and foreign dignitaries curry favor with her by making donations to the Clinton Foundation? And now, without the slightest bit of shame, businessmen and foreign dignitaries curry Trump’s favor by paying outrageous fees at his golf courses, in effect giving him emoluments. The golf courses are for-profit businesses (remember also that Trump no longer has a foundation).
Right now, you and one other player could be teeing off at the Trump National Doral’s Golden Palm for the low, low price of $215 to play eighteen holes.
Just for context, there are no available tee times at Crandon Golf this morning, but you and up to three other players can get a tee time this afternoon for $63 to $84, whereas a tee time at the Trump Doral’s Golden Palm in the afternoon will cost you $175.
And the Blue Monster that Trump mentioned in his challenge to President Biden? $350.
I haven’t even taken the Trump Golf membership fees into account, which Trump would presumably waive for President Biden to play the one challenge match. I couldn’t find how much the membership costs on the Trump Doral website. It’s one of those things that if you have to ask, you can’t afford it.