記者遭斬首還去打高爾夫 奧巴馬認錯

US President Barack Obama admitted he should have expected to be criticized for hitting the links on the same day that he addressed the beheading of American journalist James Foley and spoke with his family.

'Part of this job is also the theater of it,' he told NBC News' Chuck Todd. 'Well, it's not something that always comes naturally to me. But it matters. And I'm mindful of that.'

He added: 'I should have anticipated the optics' of playing golf.

Obama, who was on vacation at the time of Foley's murder, was heavily criticized for heading to the golf course at Martha's Vineyard where he was vacationing on August 21.

He said he was 'heartbroken' over Foley's death and that it was hard for him to hold back tears while speaking with his family.

Obama blamed the contrasting images partially on how the press follows him everywhere, even while he is 'supposed to be on vacation'.

He said there's always potential for bad news to occur, and sometimes it'll happen while the president is on holiday.

The Ebola outbreak was another subject discussed during the interview, with Obama calling it a 'national security priority'.

The US has a responsibility to give countries without sufficient public health infrastructure the resources they need to contain the virus, he said.

Obama also warned the virus could mutate if not controlled and could become dramatically more threatening for the world and even for the US.

'If we don't make that effort now, and this spreads not just through Africa but other parts of the world, there's the prospect then that the virus mutates,' he said. 'It becomes more easily transmittable. And then it could be a serious danger to the United States.'

Obama said it was essential the US keep spending money on public health aid in developing countries and chastising those who have opposed it.

'I have no higher priority than keeping the American people safe. I think I've done a very good job during the course of these last -- close to six years doing so,' he said in defending his policies overall.英國《每日郵報》9月7日報道，美國記者福利8月間遭伊斯蘭國（IS）恐怖分子斬首，美國總統奧巴馬當時正在度假，他公開譴責這一暴行後，隨即趕往高球場揮杆。奧巴馬7日接受採訪時承認這樣做很不應該。

他對美國國家廣播公司（NBC）節目《會晤新聞界》主持人查克·託德表示，“演戲也是總統工作的一部分，但我天生不擅長這個，但演戲確實很重要，我也很在意。”

他補充道：“我本應該料想到打高爾夫的後果。”

在福利遇害時，奧巴馬正在瑪莎葡萄園島度假。在8月21日，他因去打高爾夫而受到強烈批評。奧巴馬稱，對於福利的死也“悲痛萬分”。在和福利家人交談時，也不能自已，悲傷落淚。

奧巴馬責怪媒體，認爲自己的負面形象他們也有責任。因爲媒體與他形影相隨，跟蹤報道，甚至是度假也不放過。

他稱，慘劇隨時都可能發生，然而有時恰恰發生在他度假的時候。

埃博拉病毒蔓延是訪談中討論的另一個主題。奧巴馬稱其是“優先解決的國家安全問題”。

美國有責任給需要的國家提供公共衛生基礎設施，來幫助他們控制疫情。

另外，奧巴馬擔心如果疫情得不到控制，病毒可能變異。這樣可能會對世界甚至是美國構成更大威脅。

“如果我們現在不努力控制埃博拉病毒，那麼病情不僅僅在非洲蔓延，它甚至會擴散到其他地方。到時病毒可能變異”，奧巴馬說，“屆時病毒更容易傳播，對於美國而言是個嚴重的威脅。”

奧巴馬稱，美國要持續爲發展中國家提供公共衛生援助，懲罰那些阻撓援助的人，這是非常必要的。

“美國人民的安全是至高無上的。我已經任職六年了，總統任期接近尾聲，我認爲在此期間我做的非常好。”奧巴馬在對其政策全面辯護時說道。