Obamas' travel costs, including fundraisers and vacations, closing in on $100 million, says Judicial Watch

Brett T. | 8:53 PM on December 29, 2016

To get it out of the way right up front, yes, all presidents cost the taxpayers money: travel, security, housing, vacations … it all adds up, especially for a two-term president like Barack Obama.

.@JudicialWatch: New Obama Travel Costs Bring Eight-Year Total over $96 Million https://t.co/RkiKGkDX95

— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) December 29, 2016

But some of the Obamas’ travel expenses, as obtained by Judicial Watch through two separate Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits for Secret Service costs, seem outright silly.

As Twitchy reported, there was the time that TV host Bill Nye hitched a ride on Air Force One with President Obama to deliver an Earth Day address in the Florida Everglades: total cost, more than $1 million. Then there were the trips to Cuba and Argentina in 2016, adding more than $7 million to the running total, but at least the American public got video of the president and Raul Castro doing the wave at a ball game to show for it. And don’t forget those date nights in New York City.

Vacations? Remember how we all enjoyed watching the first lady and her daughters take some time off to tour Morocco, Spain, and Liberia? And how about those times presidential candidate Hillary Clinton hopped on board Air Force One for a lift, seeing as she and the president were hitting the same campaign stops?