Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and moreStay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Michelle Obama is sharing her honest thoughts about her husband Barack Obama’s controversial tan suit. Back in 2014, the then-president sent shockwaves to the internet when he wore a light suit for a White House briefing where he discussed the U.S. military response to ISIS and Russia’s intervention in Ukraine. At the time, critics deemed Barack’s suit “unpresidential” and a “monstrosity,” arguing it wasn’t appropriate for his discussion about such a serious topic. Now, ahead of the release of her upcoming fashion-forward book, The Look, Michelle is looking back at the controversy, calling some of the criticism both she and her husband received for their wardrobe choices “pure hypocrisy.”“I could pull up pictures of Jackie O [Kennedy] in a second and see this fashion icon in sleeveless dresses as first lady,” she explained during a new interview with People, noting how her own choice to don sleeveless dresses sparked uproar online. “So at a point you’re like, ‘Oh, this is politics. If you can’t beat them, make everybody scared of them. That was the motto. If it wasn’t the clothes, it was ‘that terrorist fist bump.’ It was every word that we said. It was my husband’s tan suit,” she added. open image in galleryMichelle Obama says she ‘loved’ her husband Barack’s controversial tan suit (Getty)Michelle then expressed how much she “loved that tan suit” her husband wore, despite the controversy it caused. “When he had it on, I was like, ‘Oh, my God, you look so cute.’ [Then] I was like, ‘Oh you got clocked for that one. Welcome to my world,’” she continued. “That was towards the end of his presidency, so we were used to all the crazy issues that people would take with us.” Criticism of Barack’s suit, later given the name “tan-gate,” was constantly making headlines in 2014. For example, former New York Representative Peter King said at the time: “There’s no way I think any of us can excuse what the president did yesterday… For him to walk out… in a light suit, light tan suit.”“ISIS is watching,” he continued. “If you were the head of ISIS, if you were Baghdadi, if you were anyone in the ISIS, would you come away from yesterday afraid of the United States? Would you be afraid that the United States was going to use all its power to crush ISIS?”However, the Obama administration defended Barack’s decision. A day after the initial controversy, then-White House press secretary Josh Earnest said: “The president stands squarely behind the decision that he made yesterday to wear his summer suit at yesterday’s news conference.”Barack has since reiterated his approval of the suit, telling journalist Steve Scully earlier this year that he was “rocking” the suit. open image in galleryBarack Obama wore the tan suit during a White House press briefing about the U.S. military’s response to ISIS (Getty Images)He addressed the controversy, saying it was “kind of crazy [that] people were so mad about it.” Barack also acknowledged that photos of former Presidents Ronald Regan and George Bush wearing similar suits began to circulate online at the time. “I thought I looked better than them in it,” he laughed.In addition, he made references to the viral look throughout his presidency, including during the opening of his final press conference in 2017. “Let me start out by saying that I was sorely tempted to wear a tan suit today,” he said. “But Michelle, whose fashion sense is a little better than mine, tells me that’s not appropriate in January.”In August 2024, Vice President Kamala Harris turned heads in her own brown suit during the first night of the Democratic convention, amid her run for U.S. President during last year’s election. At the time, people thought her outfit was a nod to Barack’s controversial look. Barack later celebrated the look on X, sharing a throwback photo of his tan suit, alongside a picture of Harris onstage at the convention. “How it started. How it’s going,” he wrote. “Ten years later, and it’s still a good look!”
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Michelle Obama shares verdict on Barack’s infamous tan suit moment
