The White House is standing by its man, so to speak. Press secretary Josh Earnest opened his daily media briefing with a quick clarification for President Obama: Twitter mocks be damned — the tan suit stays.
“The president stands squarely behind the decision he made yesterday to wear his summer suit,” Mr. Earnest said, bringing on the laughter, The Wire reported.
The doubling down was in reference to a tan suit Mr. Obama wore to his press conference Thursday to give remarks on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the growing threat from the terrorist Islamic State group — a suit seen by many as way too casual for so somber a presentation.
Twitter messages mocked: “LOOK. AT. THAT SUIT,” one wrote.
Another posted: “Not only is Obama wearing a tan suit, it seems way too big for him too. It looks like he’s about to be bar mitzvahed in Miami.”
Yet one more, ABC News reported: “20 minutes earlier … OBAMA: I’m not wearing this suit, Joe BIDEN: No, no you look great OBAMA: Fine. But I’m not wearing the Sea World hat.”
And as one journalist suggested in a tweet — Andrew Kaczynski from Buzz Feed, @BuzzFeedAndrew — the president’s overall message on White House policy was largely lost in the talk of the tan suit.
“I’m trying to watch this press conference but the suit is really throwing me off,” he tweeted.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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