There’s a reason why parents tell their children not to look directly into the sun — because they could damage their eyes and potentially go blind. Apparently, Donald Trump missed that lesson (along with a few history and spelling ones too).
On Monday, the president — along with wife, Melania, and youngest son, Barron — was spotted viewing the solar eclipse from the White House balcony without protective glasses.
Trump began his viewing party the right way by shielding his eyes with special protective lenses. Then, about four minutes into the video (provided by PBS News Hour), he removes the lenses and stares directly at the eclipse.
Yep, that’s right. Trump chose to stare directly into a fiery, glowing orb in the sky that has caused people to go blind. Though he only gazed at the sun unprotected for a couple of seconds, who knows what kind of damage that could do to his eyes.
And of course, Twitter clowned him big-league (bigly?) for his actions.
https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/899704861624807424
https://twitter.com/AndrewKirell/status/899709903929040897
Scientists: Don't look straight at sun during eclipse.
Trump: Hold my glasses. pic.twitter.com/3MySTJYq4d— DAN (@danWorthington) August 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/boring_as_heck/status/899709749511413760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Few.com%2Ftv%2F2017%2F08%2F21%2Fdonald-trump-looked-at-the-eclipse%2F
This guy who just looked at the sun without glasses will be giving an address on the US strategy in Afghanistan tonight. pic.twitter.com/ERkbd3OmRQ
— Thomas Bishop (@bishopk0s) August 21, 2017
Watch potential retinal damage happen in the video above.