Donald Trump looks directly at eclipse as crowd yells “Don’t Look!”

| 3:58 pm EDT August 21, 2017
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Even before today’s solar eclipse began, the jokes were flying fast and furious that Donald Trump would end up being the one idiot who looked directly at the sun, against the advice of everyone involved. But as it turns out, that’s precisely what ended up happening today as Trump and his wife stepped out onto a White House balcony during the eclipse while a crowd watched below.

Melania Trump was wearing what appeared to be the correct eclipse safety glasses. But Donald Trump appeared with no glasses and promptly looked right at the sun for a second. Then he looked up at the sun a second time and then a third time, even as some people below yelled “Don’t look!” This may sound too on-the-nose to be real, but it really did happen. In fact there’s video (link):

Other photos revealed that Donald Trump did eventually put on his own eclipse glasses. But the initial incident, in which he looked directly at the sun three times even while being warned, serves as a metaphor for the entirety of his presidency. He’s been unwilling to take solid advice from anyone knowledgeable. He’s blown off scientists who have tried to warn him about climate change. He’s filled his cabinet with people who are fully unqualified for the positions he’s given them.

The entirety of Trump’s tenure, and the primary sentiment coming from his base, is that proud and willful ignorance are virtues, and that there’s no need to listen to anyone who knows anything. It’s not clear if Trump spent enough time staring directly at the sun to do permanent damage to his eyes. We’re also waiting for reports on how many of his own supporters saw him looking at the eclipse without glasses, and then decided to do the same thing themselves.