‘Morning Joe’ Tears Into President Obama for Tango in Cuba

“That was a tremendous mistake,” RIchard Haas says on MSNBC show

President Obama Delivers Speech At Gran Teatro In Havana
HAVANA, CUBA – MARCH 22: U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the Gran Teatro de la Habana Alicia Alonso in the hisoric Habana Vieja, or Old Havana, neighborhood March 22, 2016 in Havana, Cuba. Described as a message to the Cuban people about his vision for the future of Cuba, Obama's speech will be nationally televised to the 11 million people on the communist-controlled island. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Panelists on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” took President Obama to task on Thursday for continuing with his state visit to Cuba in the wake of the Brussels terrorist attacks.

The President attended the first few innings of the historic baseball game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban National team in Havana on Tuesday, and was then seen dancing the Tango with First Lady Michelle Obama the next night in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

“[The] advance person who let him do the Tango, that person ought to be looking for work on somebody’s — in somebody’s campaign very, very far away,” Council on Foreign Relations president Richard Haass said. “That was a tremendous mistake … Baseball games and Tangos, that’s inconsistent with the seriousness of the day.”

Nicole Wallace also criticized President Obama, saying that by continuing with his planned photo ops, he was putting himself “out of step” with the American response to Brussels.

“His policy choice was to proceed with everything on his schedule and not to react to the threat of terrorism and that is his prerogative, but it puts him vastly…out of step with the entire American public, not just Republicans,” Wallace said.

Financier Steve Rattner agreed about the Tango, but defended Obama at least in part. “I think he could have handled some of that differently. I agree certainly about the Tango,” Rattner said. “But the idea that some people are throwing out that he should have, like, turned the plane around and rushed back to Washington. To do what?”

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