Obama’s ‘unsuitable’ suit beyond the pale, say social media critics

QUICK! WHAT exactly did President Barack Obama say from the White House briefing room about Syria, Iraq and Ukraine while dressed in the tan suit buzzed around the world?

Precisely. At least if you get your news from social media.

Obama’s summer fashion choice, not unprecedented among presidents – himself included – was the talk of social media on

all Friday. It was both defended as a perfectly appropriate seasonal look and criticised as too big and wholly unpresidential for such serious subject matter.

The Twitter jeers flew: ‘‘Taupe and change,’’ one said. Another tweeter riffed off the title of his book with ‘‘ The audacity of taupe.’’

While Obama usually dresses in traditional power dark suits, he did don tan for Easter this year. But not while discussing possible United States military intervention in the Middle East.

Other presidents who have taken on tan include Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, George H W Bush, George W Bush, and Dwight Eisenhower. In fact, George W Bush had a suit that his staff called Big Brown. As in, ‘‘ Oh, no, he’s wearing Big Brown today.’’

In keeping with his times, Franklin D Roosevelt was fond of white.

Obama’s suit accompanied his telling reporters ‘‘we don’t have a strategy yet’’ on US military action in Syria against the Islamic State, a violent militant group seeking to establish dominance in the Middle East. He spoke shortly before he met with security advisers.

‘‘The power persona? Gone in that suit,’’ said Los Angeles image consultant Patsy Cisneros, who has worked with US senators, governors and executives.

‘‘Everything below his neck was blah. That’s not conducive to him being listened to,’’ she said. .

One person who didn’t take issue with Obama’s light tan suit: Steve Schmidt, the Republican strategist who helped lead Senator John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. That would be the same campaign where the Republican National Committee spent thousands on Sarah Palin’s clothes.

‘‘I think it was a nice looking suit,’’ the blunt- talking Schmidt said yesterday. ‘‘ Ronald Reagan used to wear brown, tan and khaki suits [with] some frequency, and I think he looked fine.’’

‘‘It just means that the director of the movie ‘Idiocracy’ is a genius with great foresight,’’ Schmidt added of the social media flap. ‘‘As the Russians invade Ukraine and Isis storms across the Middle East . . . we’re focused on the president’s suit.’’

Cisneros said: ‘‘Wear your beige suit in the Hamptons. It’s summer time. It’s your vacation.

‘‘ If it’s a social event, lovely. We’re not listening to you. We’re looking at how nice you look.’’