President Donald Trump is getting blasted yet again, this time for his bizarre behavior during a Super Bowl watch party in West Palm Beach, Florida, over the weekend.
Trump has painted himself as the perfect “patriot” and spit fire at those who refused to “stand proudly” during performances of the national anthem. However, video that surfaced online Monday appears to show the POTUS goofing off, fidgeting and straightening his jacket while the televisions in the packed party room at his golf club aired singer Demi Lovato’s performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” from the Super Bowl.
The clip, posted to Instagram, shows a cringeworthy scene. As party guests stand at attention with their hands placed over their hearts, Trump raises both hands in the air and waves them around as if he’s conducting a band.
He proceeds to point repeatedly at someone from across the room before adjusting his chair as if he’s ready to pop a squat.
The incident unfolded at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, and was first reported by the Miami Herald. The president had just finished greeting guests as singer Lovato was introduced to belt out “The Star Spangled Banner” to cheering fans.
Footage of the president acting up was reportedly part of an Instagram story posted by a real estate agent, who was among the select group of supporters invited to attend the lavish shindig. According to a HuffPost analysis, the party came with a $3.4 million taxpayer price tag.
Backlash over the president’s antics came swiftly.
“Take a knee Donny, you’re a disgrace,” political strategist Rick Tyler tweeted.
“So much for ‘America First. Trump can4t be bothered to honor the national anthem at his la la Super Bowl party,” another critic added with the hashtag #TrumpIsNotAPatriot.
Someone else likened the president’s behavior to that of a “hyperactive child who’s begging for attention” while another blasted his “juvenile idiocy.”
Others couldn’t help but note the hypocrisy of it all. Trump has previously attacked athletes who kneel during the anthem to protest police brutality and racism in the U.S. — a movement launched by former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick in 2016. The president smeared the act as “disrespectful” to the flag and American troops.
“You have to stand proudly for the national anthem or you shouldn’t be playing — you shouldn’t be there,” he told “Fox & Friends” in 2018, adding, “Maybe you shouldn’t be in the country.”
During a 2017 rally, Trump declared that if an NFL player decided to take a knee, the team owner should “get that son of a b—h off the field.”
Its seems his own vitriol has come back to bite him.
“This is the same guy that blasted Colin Kaepernick for taking a knee during the Anthem,” one critic opined. “Can we say hypocrite?”
