August 21, 2017

Of Course Donald Trump Looked Directly Into the Eclipse

The president defies science, again.

Andrew Harnik/AP

President Donald Trump went to the Truman balcony of the White House with first lady Melania and their son Barron on Monday to join millions across the country to witness the solar eclipse.

Leading up to the event, scientists had warned against looking directly into the sun because of the irreparable damage it could cause to one’s vision, and encouraged eclipse watchers to wear only NASA-approved sunglasses. Trump defied these recommendations—twice.  

Here’s the first brief moment. As he turned his face to the sky, an onlooker yelled, “Don’t look!” Trump appeared to chuckle, perhaps having read this Slate piece beforehand.

https://twitter.com/SteveKopack/status/899709025469816832

Here’s the second, longer stare:

https://twitter.com/AndrewKirell/status/899709903929040897

https://twitter.com/lachlan/status/899706064161173504

After some uncomfortable squinting, Trump finally bowed to science and put on the glasses:

More Mother Jones reporting on Climate Desk

HERE ARE THE FACTS:

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ONE MORE QUICK THING:

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As we wrote over the summer, traffic has been down at Mother Jones and a lot of sites with many people thinking news is less important now that Donald Trump is no longer president. But if you're reading this, you're not one of those people, and we're hoping we can rally support from folks like you who really get why our reporting matters right now. And that's how it's always worked: For 45 years now, a relatively small group of readers (compared to everyone we reach) who pitch in from time to time has allowed Mother Jones to do the type of journalism the moment demands and keep it free for everyone else.

Please pitch in with a donation during our fall fundraising drive if you can. We can't afford to come up short, and there's still a long way to go by November 5.

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