It was a rare moment in history.
More than 40 leaders of the Western world came together to make a statement against Islamic terrorism, marching with millions of French citizens through the streets of Paris, but it was the absence of one leader that continues to grab the bulk of the media attention.
From Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on the right to Piers Morgan on the left, many expressed outrage that neither President Obama nor any of his top aides made the trip to Paris to join the dozens of world leaders in Sunday's anti-terrorism rally.
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Vice President Joe Biden stayed home in Delaware. Secretary of State John Kerry was on assignment in India. Attorney General Eric Holder was in Paris but did not participate in the march.
In an op-ed in Time magazine, Cruz said the decision by Obama to blow off the Paris rally was "dangerous."
"Many of our allies gathered together in Paris yesterday in an admirable display of determination. Our President should have been there, because we must never hesitate to stand with our allies," the potential presidential candidate wrote.
"The attack on Paris, just like previous assaults on Israel and other allies, is an attack on our shared values," Cruz added. "And, we are stronger when we stand together, as French President François Hollande said, for 'liberty, equality, and fraternity.'"
Radio host Rush Limbaugh said he didn't think Obama was interested in a gathering presenting himself as "one among many."
"He's not gonna go be part of a crowd. Forty-some-odd people and Obama's gonna be part? There's no way! He's not gonna subject himself. He's not going to put himself in a group where he is seen as one of many, many equals. That's the way this thing is looked at. And that's just one; there are many ways," Limbaugh said on his radio show Monday.
"The other thing is: What was being condemned here? Militant Islam was on the plate here for being condemned. Face it. This is the president who at the United Nations said that we must never allow the word of the prophet to be smeared, I'm paraphrasing," he said. "This is the president who wrote that one of the most beautiful sounds he's ever heard is the morning call to prayer at a mosque in a city where Islam is being practiced."
Obama's attorney general, Holder, was in Paris to attend an anti-terrorism summit but didn't stay for the rally.
"And this is the guy who called all of us – that we were a nation of cowards for refusing to have an honest discussion on race," Limbaugh noted. "Well here's an honest discussion on Muslim extremism, and Holder bugs out, too. He doesn't want to be any part of it. So he's acting all filled with cowardice as well about this.
"In two separate instances yesterday morning, the attorney general who was in Paris refused to follow the lead of France and declare the U.S. is at war with radical Islam."
CNN's Jake Tapper, who reported from the Paris protests, wrote a column later that described the lack of any high-level Obama official as a “shame.”
"There was higher-level Obama administration representation on this season's episodes of 'The Good Wife' on CBS," Tapper wrote. "I find it hard to believe that Speaker of the House John Boehner and new Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had more worthy pursuits on Sunday than standing side-by-side with our French brothers and sisters as they came together in an inspirational way."
Outrage of the day
Bloomberg News made the Obama absence from the rally its "outrage of the day," authored by David Weigel.
The White House issued a statement that the security requirements for the president of the United States would have been disruptive to the event in Paris.
"Pundits knew what to make of that," wrote Weigel, who then posted a Twitter posting from Jim Geraghty, who tweeted, "Yeah, I'm sure the security requirements for Netanyahu walking around on a Paris street are a piece of cake."
The Obama administration admitted Monday it should have sent a higher level official to the rally, attended by 3.7 million French, quite likely the largest protest rally in French history.
"I think it's fair to say that we should have sent someone with a higher profile" to the event, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday. The U.S. ambassador to France was the only representative from the American government.
"We agree that we should have sent someone with a higher profile in addition to the ambassador to France," Earnest conceded.
The Daily Mail in London ran an article under the heading: "American snubs historic Paris rally; Holder was there but skipped out early; Kerry was in India; Obama-Biden just stayed home."
The Daily Mail quoted an "incensed" former speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, saying it was "sad that 50 world leaders could show solidarity in Paris but President Obama refused to participate."
"The cowardice continues," Gingrich said, referring to Republicans' refrain that he has shown a weak hand when dealing with terrorism overseas.
According to the Mail, Politico reporter Ben White tweeted: "Is it just me or does it feel like Obama should be at this big March in Paris?"
Fox News host Greta Van Susteren wrote: "This is really embarrassing – WHERE IS PRESIDENT OBAMA? Why didn't he go?"
"Obama's absence was notable as dozens of nations' show of solidarity unfolded before a global audience – especially considering his public schedule was wide open," the Mail concluded.
Even Democrats chime in
Democratic strategist Doug Schoen, writing for Fox News, said Obama has "morally abdicated his place as the leader of the free world."
The decision to stay in Washington, Schoen wrote, "sent a clear message to the world: Obama just doesn't care."
Schoen also opined that Obama "is the only Western leader who has refused to call this attack Islamic terrorism, even though President Hollande has declared that France is it at war with radical Islam."