Commentary

In this handout provide by the White House, U.S. President Barack Obama (L) receives a fist-bump from a U.S. soldier as he greets hundreds of U.S. troops during his visit to Camp Victory on April 7, 2009 in Baghdad, Iraq. Obama is serving as the 44th President of the U.S. and the first African-American to be elected to the office of President in the history of the United States. (Pete Souza / White House via Getty Images)

Where Was the Leftist Outrage When Obama Signed Photos for Troops Overseas?

By Kara Pendleton December 29, 2018 at 4:49am

CNN and others both inside and outside media have seemingly lost their minds over President Donald Trump’s Christmastime visit with the troops. On top of all the “fake news” that accompanied the reporting of his trip, there was a heaping helping of hypocrisy as well.

When Trump signed MAGA hats and other items for the troops, he and the troops were attacked for it. However, he is not the first president to sign things for troops.

Interestingly enough, those criticizing Trump and the troops over it now didn’t seem to have a problem with it when it was Obama doing the signing. In fact, it was celebrated as a “See how much he loves our troops and our troops love him” moment.

There is plenty of photographic evidence of Obama signing items for the troops. But that wasn’t ‘partisan politics,’ ‘optics,’ or ‘self-promotional photo ops,’ as has been claimed when Trump was involved.

Fake News Media at their best – President Trump attacked for signing autographs for the troops/President Obama praised for signing autographs for the troops pic.twitter.com/lwNGEQrBmz

— MARK SIMONE (@MarkSimoneNY) December 28, 2018

In this full view of the photo it is more clear that it is troops Obama is signing items for. Some are in uniform.

Obama signing autographs for the troops. The swamp media celebrating about it. Hypocrisy. pic.twitter.com/OafalFDXvM

— Mike Hayes (@Dukeoftralee) December 28, 2018

Do you believe the establishment media is biased against President Trump?

But it wasn’t just photos of himself that Obama signed. Like Trump, he also signed hats for uniformed members of the military.

Below is a picture of Obama signing a troops hat
Since becoming President, Donald Trump has certainly exposed the Blatant Double Standards pic.twitter.com/x6Uspr6Jyf

— Nadia Salvino 🇺🇸 (@Nadiasalvino) December 28, 2018

A cropped photo of Obama signing autographs for uniformed troops has also appeared on social media. Did the left attack him over it?

Pictured: President Obama signing autographs for troops in uniform. (Image cropped for goodness knows what reason.) Still not a violation of the UCMJ/Hatch Act, @CNN. pic.twitter.com/EMgPopQeuK

— Arthfach (@arthfach) December 27, 2018

Even then-first lady Michelle Obama signed photos of herself for the troops. That wasn’t a problem for the media or left, either.

FLASHBACK: Barack Obama autographed Obama pictures for troops in Afghanistan, Kuwait & at US Bases.

SHOCKINGLY, MSM SAID NOTHING! So why complain about Trump signing MAGA hats?

Never Forget: The liberal MSM is the enemy of the people!

M. Obama autographing her own picture! pic.twitter.com/OUl6JrczAS

— Jean (@watspn1013) December 27, 2018

It has been pointed out, even by the U.S. Air Force, that the troops did not violate any rules by presenting personal items, in the form of MAGA hats, for the Commander-in-Chief to sign. Even doing so while they were in uniform was not a violation.

Despite this, the establishment media had a problem when there was none, with Trump signing personal items for the troops. They did not when it was Obama doing it.

They also did not have a ‘political partisanship’ problem when outgoing Democratic President Obama told troops to “speak your mind and protest against” authority. He didn’t name incoming Republican President Trump by name, but as the outgoing president, his words could be taken as him encouraging troops to “criticize” their new Commander-in-Chief.

His statement can be found in the official White House transcript of that speech, given on December 6, 2016 at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida. “We’re a nation that believes freedom can never be taken for granted and that each of us has a responsibility to sustain it.”

“The universal right to speak your mind and to protest against authority, to live in a society that’s open and free, that can criticize a President without retribution — (applause) — a country where you’re judged by the content of your character rather than what you look like, or how you worship, or what your last name is, or where your family came from — that’s what separates us from tyrants and terrorists.”

It is almost as if the media is only interested in “reporting” those things that fit a specific narrative. Obama good. Trump bad.

The blatant hypocrisy in their reporting repeatedly being called out has not stopped them. Neither has the “fake news” moniker.

As long as the establishment media continues to push agenda rather than simply report news, the public will continue to lose trust in them. Behaving as activists rather than journalists may get them their ’15 minutes of fame,’ but it does nothing to help their personal credibility or the credibility of their profession.

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