Petty or racist’: Ex White House photographer rips Trump for ‘hiding’ Obama portrait and bucking custom

Barack Obama’s official White House photographer has hit out at Donald Trump’s determination to “hide” the portrait of the previous president, questioning whether or not the motives for the shake-up had been “petty or racist.”

Pete Souza, who served beneath Obama and former president Ronald Reagan, stated that breaking a longstanding custom of the place presidential portraits are hung was “pretty petty,” and recommended that Obama lived within the president’s head “rent free.”

It comes after reviews on the weekend that White House employees had moved the portraits of three former presidents — together with Obama — to a staircase the place guests now can not see them.

Obama’s portrait was moved to the highest of the Grand Staircase, an space that’s restricted to the president’s household, Secret Service and choose employees, in line with CNN.

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In an Instagram publish Tuesday, Souza shared a photograph of Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama descending the staircase, with portraits of presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Harry S. Truman seen within the background

“Petty or racist?⁣” he started his caption.

Souza went on to explain the ⁣”longstanding protocol/custom” of the place the portraits of former Presidents are hung.

The most up-to-date ones, he stated, are displayed within the Grand Foyer, then the Cross Hall, then the Grand Staircase, in that order. The order is such that guests throughout the White House public excursions can see the newest Presidents.

Other portraits, like Lincoln and Washington, are displayed prominently within the State Dining Room and East Room.

Souza additionally famous that, in line with this, throughout the Obama administration the portraits of presidents Bush and Clinton hung within the Grand Foyer, whereas portraits of presidents Reagan, Carter, Ford and Kennedy had been hung alongside the Cross Hall. ⁣

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“According to CNN, the current occupant of the Oval Office has moved the portrait of President Obama from the Grand Foyer (where it should be) to that hidden area at the top of the Grand Staircase,” he wrote.

“Why was this done? 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?⁣”

As nicely as his function as White House photographer for Reagan and Obama, Souza labored 9 years for the Chicago Tribune’s Washington, D.C. bureau and as a freelancer for National Geographic and Life magazines.

He has additionally earned widespread recognition for a number of well-known photographs, together with the May 1, 2011 scene within the Situation Room the place Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and different officers watched updates on the mission to kill Osama Bin Laden.

Trump’s determination to maneuver the portrait of Obama comes as tensions rise between the 2 males, with Trump baselessly accusing Obama of “treason” and posting AI-generated faux movies depicting Obama’s arrest.

Obama has known as the claims he orchestrated an tried “coup” towards Trump as “outrageous” and branded it an “attempt at distraction” by Trump amid his failure to launch the controversial Epstein recordsdata.