
Donald Trump is justified in taking an extended summer vacation because he is "crushing it" as president, and he "can do that anywhere."

The Trump White House says it is fine for Donald Trump to go on a summer vacation in August, despite numerous legislative and policy issues coming to a boil, because he has access to a telephone and is already "crushing it" in the presidency.

MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle asked White House aide (and Nazi sympathizer) Sebastian Gorka about reports that Trump "taking off almost all of August." In response, Gorka said that Trump "doesn't have to be sitting in the" White House to "exercise command," adding that throughout his presidency, Trump has been "crushing it." And that means there is no reason to be concerned.

RUHLE: Given all the work that needs to be done, yesterday President Trump said he doesn't believe that Congress should go on break in August if we don't see a health care bill. I know health care isn't your thing, but given all the work ahead, what's the president's plan? I heard he's going to be taking off almost all of August. GORKA: What's his plan? His plan is to exert the pressure that every president has from the White House to try and get that commitment to a decision, because, remember, again, another catastrophe. Thanks for raising it. Obamacare. My premiums, I don't know about your premiums, but the people I talk to have seen them double, triple, who have deductibles they literally can't afford to pay in cash. That's a real problem. RUHLE: So the president will be in the White House working for the month of August? GORKA: The president, if you read his book, "The Art of the Deal," on average makes about 40 to 50 phone calls a day. He doesn't have to be sitting in the building behind me to exercise command, to exercise leadership. He can do that anywhere. He can do that from the deck of Air Force One. So it's not about locality. It's about leadership. And I think in the last 25 weeks, you've seen that leadership from the southern border to NATO, to Warsaw, to the economy, to the stock market — we're crushing it, and he can do that from anywhere. RUHLE: All right, well, the White House doesn't crush the stock market, but I do appreciate your time. GORKA: It's a phrase, a common phrase. It means winning.

Trump has not, in fact, been "crushing it." In poll after poll, the American people have made that very clear, giving him extremely negative remarks for his job performance that fall far below other first-term presidents.


Despite once promising not to take vacations if he was elected, Trump has spent his time in office in leisure, making at least 50 trips to Trump-branded resorts since being sworn in. That is 23 percent of his 172-day presidency.

As Trump gears up to take more time off, Mike Pence has been making the rounds in swing states, holding what looks more like presidential campaign events than traditional vice presidential fare, while trying to distance himself from Trump scandals.

Trump's time in office has been spent doing far more golfing than President Barack Obama and even President George W. Bush. He's spent more time on leisure travel than both men as well.

In 2005, Bush took five weeks off during August, and it remains to be seen if Trump will match this feat, but he is well on his way.

In August 2009, the first of his presidency, Obama did the following:

— Hosted the Emir of Kuwait in the Oval Office

— Met with the National Commander of the American Legion in the White House

— Held a town hall meeting on unemployment with citizens of Elkhart, Indiana

— Attended a three-nation summit in Mexico

— Held a health care town hall in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

— Bestowed the Medal of Freedom to 16 recipients in a White House ceremony

— Held a health care town hall in Grand Junction, Colorado

— Visited the Grand Canyon

— Spoke at the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) convention in Phoenix, Arizona

— Hosted the president of Egypt at the White House

— Hosted the winner of the NASCAR Sprint Cup at the White House

— Delivered the eulogy for Sen. Ted Kennedy

After years of Trump making a lot of noise about Obama's travel, once again Trump is proving to be an extreme hypocrite, going above and beyond his predecessors when it comes to not doing his job.