Former White House Photographer Shares 2 Theories On Trump Hiding Obama Portrait

Ex-White House photographer Pete Souza had one query on Instagram Tuesday for President Donald Trump, who has reportedly moved former President Barack Obama’s presidential portrait to a much less seen spot within the White House: “Petty or racist?”

CNN reported Sunday that the president had ordered his workers to maneuver the portrait to the highest of the Grand Staircase. The outlet cited two sources acquainted with the matter, and even reviewed a photograph exhibiting the portray hanging in its new, far-less-prominent dwelling.

Souza has cheekily shaded Trump earlier than, however appeared earnestly troubled by this information. The former chief official White House photographer, who served throughout each Obama’s and President Ronald Reagan’s administrations, defined his frustrations in a prolonged put up.

“There is a longstanding protocol/tradition where the portraits of former Presidents are hung,” Souza wrote Tuesday on Instagram. “The most recent ones are displayed in the Grand Foyer, then the Cross Hall, then the Grand Staircase, in that order.”

“They are all prominently displayed so visitors during the White House public tours would see the most recent Presidents,” he continued. “(Other portraits like Lincoln and Washington are displayed prominently in the State Dining Room and East Room).”

Souza went on to excoriate Trump with out ever utilizing his identify, and slammed “the current occupant of the Oval Office” for transferring Obama’s portrait “to that hidden area” the place “it cannot be seen publicly on White House tours and cannot be seen by White House staff.”

“Why was this done?” Souza requested point-blank Tuesday on the tail finish of his put up. “Was it because President Obama lives rent free in the current occupant’s head? I’d say that’s pretty petty. Or could there be another reason?”

He accompanied Tuesday’s put up with a photograph of his personal, which caught Obama and then-first girl Michelle Obama descending the Grand Staircase in 2009 — with the portraits of former Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Harry Truman appropriately adorning its partitions.