Julian Castro, current Presidential Candidate and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under the Obama Administration, gave a speech in Des Moines this week to discuss how he will position himself heading forward into the 2020 Presidential election.
With this week officially adding Socialist Bernie Sanders to the list of Democratic presidential candidates-there are now 12 confirmed Democrats that are vying for the Presidency. Speaking to a group of supporters in Des Moines, Castro said, “I don’t golf, so I’m going to work a lot harder than this president.”
While it was meant as a dig to President Trump, it should be noted that President Obama also frequently golfed during his time in office. So, the comment unintentionally digs and paints both Trump and Obama as lazy and not accomplishing what they should be doing because they're too busy golfing.
The website Golf Digest informs that an “avid golfer plays 56 rounds a year.” President Obama matched this number in 2014 while also being described as an "avid golfer" during his first term. But, President Obama's second term proved to be a more active year on the golf course by “averaging 47.5 rounds between 2013-206 compared to 27 rounds in the previous terms.” However, his less active year was in 2012 when he was up for reelection. Accumulatively, President “Obama played 306 rounds while in office.”
When asked what sets him apart from everyone else that's in the running, Castro assured potential voters that he believes " people are looking for the opposite to Donald Trump," and his job during this election season will be to cement that distinction.
Although President Trump is known to be a sharp critic of his detractors both through social media and at rallies, Castro asserted that he will not be verbally sparring with the President. Castro explained that "you are never going to out-gutter Donald Trump."
