The Trumps' Official Christmas Photo Is Here & Twitter Cannot Stop Trolling
It's that time of year. With just ten days until Christmas, the White House on Thursday, Dec. 15 released the official holiday photo. But Trump's official Christmas photo has Twitter nonstop trolling. "White House releases official Christmas portrait of the First Couple. The fake smiles, gripping on to each other- looks more like a hostage photo with both of them screaming 'Help, get us out of here!'" wrote one user on Twitter.
Per Town & Country, the photo was taken by Andrea Hands on Dec. 5, and shows the couple standing between two of the White House's 53 Christmas trees. The portrait has an oddly somber tone given that the two look dressed for a funeral — or perhaps a formal ball — in their head-to-toe black ensembles.
"There’s something strange about the official Trump Christmas portrait," wrote one user in a tweet that was widely shared. While some didn't articulate what exactly was off about the photo in their eyes, others were outspoken and specific with their critiques.
In addition to a host of overwhelmingly positive responses, many of them cloyingly praising of the first couple, many more users reacted with questioning or mocking, and there were some common themes among them.
The couple's stance and general demeanor — particularly Melania's — was a trend among the Twitter scrutiny. "This photo isn’t awkward at all," one user remarked. "Pretty pic but why is the First Lady clenching her right hand?" asked another. There were many more similar comments about the first lady.
Several users noted that something (or someone) appeared to be missing. The hashtag #WheresBarron began to surface as one user pointed out the absence of the couple's son. Many others called out the fact that Barron literally wasn't in the picture.
But another user photoshopped in another missing face — former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer's.
"Seriously though, know what is strange?," one user asked on Twitter. "Their child, that lives w them is not in the photo...very weird. #WheresBarron?"
Others pointed out that the Trumps seemed to be positioned strangely far from the camera. "They are about as distant from the camera as they are from reality," wrote one user.
"Blink if you need help Melania," another user wrote.
Still other reactions didn't even employ words to convey their meaning. Many users simply shared gifs (many of them laughing) and let the rest of us read between the lines.
Some users clearly were nostalgic for the Christmas cards of President Barack Obama and his family.
That wasn't the only person to compare Christmas portrait to those of Trump's predecessor, President Barack Obama. One user shared Obama's family photo and writing "Palate cleanser."
The Pences' Christmas photo was also released, and the couple are similarly dressed in black, save for the green geometric tie worn by Vice President Mike Pence.
The Trumps' first holiday season in the White House has so far been a mixed bag. While the White House is certainly done up (the decorations include a 350-pound gingerbread house and the whole setup took thousands of hours of work), there's been some drama. The Christmas party this year got awkward when April D. Ryan, one of the few black White House reporters, said she hadn't gotten an invite. And amid Trump personally dragging the media on a regular basis, CNN announced it would be boycotting the festivities.
This year's official White House Hanukkah Party was also more sparsely attended than in years past, thanks to the fact that congressional Jewish Democrats weren't invited, nor were some religious leaders. (There was also the fact that Trump got called out for a past tweet in which he criticized Obama for holding the Hanukkah party early one year to jet off to Hawaii, when he basically did the same thing this year.)
The first family really needed a win with their official Christmas portrait after all these hiccups. But it's up for debate whether they redeemed their image or sank it lower based on all the reactions.
