Earnest also said “it was not” a mistake for the president to stop and eat at the local burger joint Charcoal Pit shortly after news of the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 broke, and it was not inappropriate for him to continue with his planned campaign-style speech in Delaware calling for more infrastructure spending. President Obama briefly touched on the news at the top of his remarks before moving on to some friendly quips and a prepared speech.
“What the president is focused on is his ability to do his job,” Earnest said, noting that the president made calls to various officials over the course of the day. “If there were a requirement for the president to change his schedule so that he could attend to this urgent priority and fulfill his responsibilities as commander-in-chief, we would have not hesitated to make this change.”