*** The Official MAGAposting thread ***

[wufwugy]

Honestly, no one would be going in so hard on the picture if Trump didn't insist on claiming to have one upped Obama. He drew the comparisons, needlessly, and, in turn, being the visual creatures we are, we're shitting on his situation room photo op, because Obama's was objectively so much better. Beyond one just being a better photo, if you chose to read into them, especially when they're side by side, they say a ton about each man, and each man's administration.

You're right, they do say a ton about each man. I like Obama's photo much better. Trump's looks very silly.

The sale Trump is thinking past with this photo is likely (1) being imagined as Head of State and (2) associated with deadness of Bagh-Deadi. Obama didn't need sale #1, but Trump needs it big time to survive. It probably would have hurt Obama to hamfist that sale. Obama sitting on the side in casual dress is a great image for him in this situation.

Is Trump's photo a good image for him? The photo is dumb, but it sells him as Head of State because everybody's arguing over the silly details of a photo where the backdrop is Trump looking exactly the way he wants to look.

[boost]

You're right, they do say a ton about each man. I like Obama's photo much better. Trump's looks very silly.

The sale Trump is thinking past with this photo is likely (1) being imagined as Head of State and (2) associated with deadness of Bagh-Deadi. Obama didn't need sale #1, but Trump needs it big time to survive. It probably would have hurt Obama to hamfist that sale. Obama sitting on the side in casual dress is a great image for him in this situation.

Is Trump's photo a good image for him? The photo is dumb, but it sells him as Head of State because everybody's arguing over the silly details of a photo where the backdrop is Trump looking exactly the way he wants to look.

Good analysis. Trump's play here, if intentional, is like a dictator that wears military fatigues with an absurd amount of brass pinned to them-- this always hit me as silly and an illustration of their delusions of grandeur, but you make a good point: there's an audience for everything and they may just be pandering to that audience. And it's not that Obama is immune from this analysis either. To some he probably looks weak and ineffectual off in the corner like that, but to the audience that matters more to him, he comes across as confident and uninterested in self indulgent pomp.

Yet even if we are cynical on both accounts, in this narrow circumstance in a vacuum, I find it hard to not prefer the president who's pretending at higher minded ideals. Nonetheless, your point that doing so may simply not be a viable option for Trump in this moment is not lost on me.