I thought this was a satirical item when I first saw it, but apparently it’s for real.

Fox News Channel contributors are criticizing the vacation destinations of Barack and Michelle Obama. Yes, that would be the former president and former first lady of the United States, two individuals who now are private citizens … more or less.

According to The Hill: Citing “travel experts,” it said that “the level of luxury the Obamas enjoy on their vacations is unprecedented for a modern-day president.”

Here is how The Hill reported it.

Fox asked Patrick Caddell, former pollster and policy adviser to President Carter, about his view of it. Caddell described the Obamas’ vacation destinations as being like the “lifestyles of the rich and famous.” They’ve been to Bali and to luxury resorts in Hawaii, which I guess doesn’t go down well with those who work at Fox.

I won’t belabor this point, but Fox News is quite friendly to Donald J. Trump. Since I don’t routinely watch Fox News, I am reluctant to draw conclusions about its coverage of the president’s pricey excursions to his own resort in Florida. Is the network as hard-nosed in its examination of the current president as it appears to be of his immediate predecessor? You decide.

The difference is that the Obamas are footing their own bill for their vacation; the Trumps are vacationing on our dime.

Therefore, I believe Barack and Michelle Obama are entitled to vacation wherever they damn well please.