Happy 5-year anniversary to Barack Obama's tan suit

You know what? He looked great.
By Nicole Gallucci  on 
Happy 5-year anniversary to Barack Obama's tan suit
The audacity. Credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Remember when the White House was controversial? I'm talking like, really controversial.

In the current administration, President Trump has been associated with everything from racist tweets and allegations of sexual misconduct to a literal FBI investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election ... and so much more.

It's absolutely abhorrent stuff, but never forget that on this day five years ago, President Obama created one of the biggest White House scandals America has ever seen. He had the audacity to wear ... a tan suit.

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The tan suit that shook America to its core. Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images

When Obama walked out to make a statement at a press briefing on Aug. 28, 2014, he looked handsome, stylish, and easily capable of pulling off more than just another a boring black or navy blue suit. He looked like he could not only stand behind a podium and run a country, sure, but also appear on the cover of GQ, which is something of a rarity.

According to a White House statement, Obama wore the suit because he "loves" it. But that wasn't good enough for some Republicans. Many deemed the look "unpresidential," and it wasn't long before the tan suit sparked a flurry of think pieces and online discourse.

On the five-year anniversary of The Tan Suit, Twitter users are looking back at Obama's time in office and marveling at how incredibly dumb it was for the country to fall into disarray over light fabric. Many are also comparing Obama's big suit scandal to the many controversies in Trump's presidency. The Daily Show even spliced together a dramatic video in honor of the suit.

Melania Trump may have worn a jacket that said "I really don't care, do u?" to visit Texas shelters and facilities for immigrant children at the U.S. border, but Obama? Obama wore a tan suit.

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Nicole Gallucci

Nicole is a Senior Editor at Mashable. She primarily covers entertainment and digital culture trends, and in her free time she can be found watching TV, sending voice notes, or going viral on Twitter for admiring knitwear. You can follow her on Twitter @nicolemichele5.


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