Barack Obama addresses infamous tan suit controversy with sharp response
Topics: Barack Obama, Politics, US News
Rhiannon Ingle
Featured Image Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Topics: Barack Obama, Politics, US News
Former United States President Barack Obama has addressed the infamous tan suit controversy with a very quick-witted response.
On the off-chance you're not in the loop regarding the tan suit controversy, it all kicked off back on August 28th, 2014, when Obama, who served as the 44th president of the US for two terms, from 2009 to 2017, held a live press conference discussing whether the US military would escalate its response to ISIS in Syria.
Obama, now 64, addressed reporters donning, you guessed it, a tan suit, and it didn't take long for critics to slam him for allegedly dressing 'unprofessionally' and appearing 'too casual' for a president.
The outfit choice went on to make headlines around the globe for days afterwards.
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And it's clear that, after well over a decade, people haven't forgotten about the so-called scandal, with one social media user recently writing under a resurfaced post: "Remember when this was a scandal, I would kill to have this be the only bad thing we’d say about our president, we had it all and didn’t know it."
"Remember when this was the biggest concern in politics?" pointed out another, while a third chimed in: "They couldn’t handle his swag."
Obama seems to share a similar sentiment after being the special guest on Tuesday night's (5 May) airing of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where the host asked if his soon-to-open presidential library commemorated the notorious tan suit.
Showing him 'souvenirs' from throughout his life, Colbert asked him at one point during the segment: "Is it safe to assume that some of these displays commemorate your greatest achievements, Mr President?"
"I think that is fair, yes," Obama responded.
"Is there a wing dedicated to your greatest blunders?" Colbert continued, before asking: "Is the tan suit here? I'm asking if the tan suit is here."
With a smile, Obama replied: "Listen, I own that tan suit proudly, brother. I mean, I look great."
"A shattered nation looked up and saw that," Colbert joked, before asking: "When you look back at the tan suit, what occurs to you?"
Without missing a beat, the former president answered: "Fly."
"'Fly' indeed it was! He looked fantastic in that suit!" gushed one fan after seeing the clip.
Another commented: "I luckily was too young to pay attention to the news back then because the undue attention to this would have pmo."
And a final X user echoed: "I will never understand the conservative outrage over Obama and his tan suit. He looked great."