Barack Obama, in an attempt to appear sympathetic to gun owners’ concerns as he pursues a gun-banning agenda in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting, recently bragged that he goes skeet shooting at Camp David “all the time.”
Responding to the blowback from skeptics who doubted Obama was telling the unvarnished truth (Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) challenged Obama to a skeet shooting contest), the White House not only released a photo of Obama shooting skeet, but White House press secretary Jay Carney also tried to water down Obama’s statement.
Carney claimed Obama had “never pretended to or suggested that he had grown up as a hunter or engaging in sports activities with weapons.” According to the White House spokesman, “[Obama] simply said that he had, and this is the truth, that he had enjoyed shooting at Camp David. That’s a fact.”
He went on to explain why the photo had been released while continuing to assert that Obama’s comments about shooting had been entirely unplanned:
The fact is the president was asked a question–did not volunteer, but was asked a question about whether or not he had ever shot a weapon. He answered with the truth, which is that he has enjoyed shooting competitively with friends at Camp David on multiple occasions… there were persistent questions about this, and we decided to release a photo of the president shooting at Camp David.
Obama told The New Republic that he was a skeet shooter, stating, “Yes, in fact, up at Camp David, we do skeet shooting all the time. Not the girls, but oftentimes guests of mine go up there.”
When asked whether Obama liked skeet or trap shooting better, Carney replied that Obama “has gotten better” at shooting.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.