'Still a good look': Barack Obama celebrates 10 years of tan suit gate

WASHINGTON, DC: Former president Barack Obama took to the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, August 28, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of one of the strongest controversies of his presidency- the 'tan suit gate.'

Sharing an image of himself in the outfit that he donned during a press conference on August 28, 2014, along with Kamala Harris' tan suit during her first appearance at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, Obama wrote, "How it started. How it's going. Ten years later, and it's still a good look!"

What is the tan suit gate?

According to USA Today, Obama held a press conference back in 2014 as the then-commander in chief, where he stated of the US military response to ISIS, "We don't have a strategy yet." Despite the serious nature of the discourse, it was Obama's attire that triggered the Republican outrage.

Rep Peter King (R-NY) stated at the time, "He looked like he was on his way to a party at the Hamptons."

In a separate interview, he shared, "You have the whole world watching, you have a week, two weeks of anticipation of what the United States is going to do, and then for him to walk out – I'm not trying to be trivial here – but in a light suit, light tan suit, saying that first he wants to talk about what most Americans care about, and he said that's the vision of the second-quarter numbers on the economy."

Dark suits are the protocol for serious meetings. As such, conservative commentators were strongly critical of Obama for discussing a pressing national security issue dressed as he was.

Late Fox News Business host Lou Dobbs commented back then, "I think it was shocking to a lot of people."

"Khaki is a sort of wishy-washy color," wrote New York Times chief fashion critic Vanessa Friedman, and therefore "a particularly odd choice for a discussion of wishy-washy military policy."

Obama has regularly made cheeky reference to the 'scandal' since, with his White House even sharing the hashtag "#YesWeTan" ahead of the 2015 State of the Union speech in 2015.

Internet believes tan suit 'never looked this good'

Netizens were happy to join Obama in his quip, celebrating a decade of the tan suit scandal of the Obama White House. The following tweets demonstrate the predominant takes.

"Happy 10 year anniversary of the tan suit! 🔥🔥" wished a person.

"How ever did we survive it?" sarcastically inquired another.

"Might be #1 for best dressed POTUS," quipped a third.

"Tan suits have never looked this good, 😍" shared a fourth.

"Well, this is f*****g epic," cheered a fifth.

"Time flies! It's been 10 years since the epic Tan Suit Scandal. This will trigger PTSD for some people 😂😂😂," shared another.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.