MSNBC host Ari Melber took aim at the Fox News network this week over its blatant double-standard reporting of President Donald Trump‘s “executive time” — much of which is spent slacking off, according to a recent Axios report.
“We know that leaving this much open, unscheduled time is not common among top CEOs,” Melber said on a Wednesday night edition of “The Beat.” “Trump works less than them. And we know that Trump is working less in the Oval Office than Obama or past presidents.”
Ari Melber pointed to recent data showing that Donald Trump has worked far fewer hours than former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush. (MSNBC / video screenshot)
The report, published on Sunday, showed that Trump has spent nearly 60 percent of his scheduled time in unstructured “executive time” for the last three months. A White House source leaked almost every day of the president’s private schedule, which puts him in the Oval Office from just 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Fox co-host Greg Gutfeld seemed unfazed by the report, however, and even argued on a recent episode of “The Five” that Trump should have “more executive time” if he wants, so long as work is getting done. The network’s tune was much different when Barack Obama was in office, and show hosts spent much of their time criticizing the former POTUS.
“We also know these same Fox pundits defending Trump’s executive time schedule lit up President Obama for being, quote, ‘too leisurely,’ which does expose their double standard because we also know that Trump golfs far more than Obama based on two years of data,” Melber added.
The anchor drove home his point by playing clips of Fox News hosts chastising Obama for playing a few rounds of golf here and there.
In an August 2014 video, Gutfeld (who urged Trump to take more time off) said, “President Obama, you have a problem. You have a problem with golf, and it’s getting weird.”
“The leisurely life of our 44th president, the man who will no doubt set records for the number of rounds of golf played while in office,” host Sean Hannity argued in 2012.
During an October 14, 2014 show, Andrew Levy joked, “I think it is very, very clear to anyone who’s paying attention that if President Obama didn’t golf, there would be a cure for Ebola.”
Watch more in the video below.
WATCH: Fox News pundits defending Trump's 'Executive Time' schedule blasted Obama for playing golf.
"We also know Trump golfs far more than Obama based on 2 years of data" – @AriMelber pic.twitter.com/XagPoSIHox
— The Beat with Ari Melber on MSNBC (@TheBeatWithAri) February 6, 2019
