The following article by Chris Cillizza was posted on the CNN website August 21, 2017:
There’s literally only one rule with eclipses: Don’t look at the sun during them.
Which brings me to the President of the United States:
President Donald Trump looks up toward the Solar Eclipse while joined by his wife first lady Melania Trump on the Truman Balcony at the White House on August 21, 2017.
And, again:
President Donald Trump looks up toward the Solar Eclipse on the Truman Balcony at the White House on August 21, 2017.
And, because three times is a charm:
President Donald Trump looks up toward the Solar Eclipse while standing with his wife first lady Melania Trump and their son Barron, on the Truman Balcony at the White House on August 21, 2017.
That’s Donald John Trump on the Truman Balcony, 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.
Their son Barron got in on the action too:
President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and their son Barron Trump wear special glasses to view the solar eclipse from the Truman Balcony at the White House on August 21, 2017 in Washington, DC.
Heck, even “beleaguered” Attorney General Jeff Sessions got on the protective eyewear bandwagon (alongside Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross)!
Attorney General Jeff Sessions (left) and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross wear special glasses to view the solar eclipse at the White House on August 21, 2017.
Just in case Trump is still President when the next solar eclipse comes in 2024 — it could happen! — here’s a story he should read. Titled “Can you really go blind staring at a solar eclipse?,” CNN’s Ashley Strickland writes:
“The retina may translate light into an electrical impulse that the brain understands, but one thing it can’t translate to your brain is pain. So even if you’re excited about the eclipse and think one brief glimpse at the sun before it completely hides behind the moon is worth it — it’s not. There’s no internal trigger that is going to let you know that you’ve looked at the sun for too long. Any amount of looking at it is too long.
Even the smallest amount of exposure can cause blurry vision or temporary blindness. The problem is, you won’t know whether it’s temporary.”
Remember, Mr. President: “Any amount of looking is too long.”
View the post here.