Former President Barack Obama is under fire from his Democrat base for taking never ending luxurious vacations since leaving office.
Obama continues to embark on his endless mystery tour of millionaire and billionaire hotspots and retreats around the world. Ex-Presidents should go on vacation, but Obama seems to be flaunting a type of luxurious post-presidential lifestyle that would make the Kardashian’s blush.
Democrat strategist, Pat Caddell, a former adviser to President Jimmy Carter, commented that Obama’s “trips are like the lifestyles of the rich and famous” and said that Obama’s vacations are “unprecedented, and a far cry from how Carter spent his first few months out of office.”
Since leaving office in late January, Obama has visited late actor Marlon Brando’s private island; the Four Seasons in Bali — where rooms cost upward of $2,000 per night; a Palm Springs estate; Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island; the exclusive Mid Pacific Country Club in Oahu; the 13th-century Borgo Finocchieto in Tuscany; and the Rising Sun, Hollywood studio mogul David Geffen’s private yacht.
“These are some of the most luxurious travel destinations in the world. Many of our clients spend tens of thousands of dollars or more to stay at these resorts, which cater to the most discriminating and demanding guests,” said Kendra Thornton, travel expert and owner of luxury travel agency Royal Travel. “For example, Necker Island has a nightly price tag of $80,000. Anyone who stays at these properties does so because they want the best of the best.”
“I think the Bernie Sanders wing of the party, when they see President Obama, whom they instinctively want to defend being the corporatist president, I think it makes the base uneasy,” said Caddell.
Left-wing activists told Fox News they are troubled by what they see as a trend by Obama to distance himself from the base of the party. It’s not just vacations. The president also has enjoyed hefty fees for speeches to prominent Wall Street firms. It’s all part of a trend, they say, of Obama trying to join the fabled 1 percent.
President Barack Obama is living his best life. #Bali #Indonesia pic.twitter.com/uhAGBgsmhz
— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) June 26, 2017
“Obama is not as wealthy or as conservative as Trump, George W. Bush, or George H.W. Bush, but he enjoys what used to be called ‘the lifestyle of the rich and famous,’” said Dr. David Michael Smith of the Houston Socialist Movement. “I am not surprised by Obama’s several recent foreign vacations. As president, he disappointed millions of supporters who hoped he would be a strong advocate for working-class people.”
Challenged @barackobama to a kitesurf vs foilboard learning contest – here’s what happened https://t.co/5hwjOvy2TK pic.twitter.com/wEGSjL2TAr
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) February 7, 2017
