March 7, 2017

It's great for Trump to pop out and surprise a bunch of schoolkids who were touring the White House today...



... but why did he stage it right in front of a portrait of Hillary Clinton?

Why did Trump pose in front of the Hillary portrait?
Lighthearted teasing: I'm the one who's here and she's not.
Cruel mockery: She was crushed and I am the victor.
It just happened to be the best location for ambushing children.
He admires old Hillary. He's almost copying her gesture, arms out. He's showing love and inclusion. She's here in spirit, and I'm here with her.
free poll

60 comments:

Ken B said...

To derange his critics.

Achilles said...

Trump probably didn't mean for Hillary to be there. And why the hell is her picture in the White House? What did she accomplish? There have to be a million other people more worthy of having their picture in the WH.

rehajm said...

Can I vote Ken's answer?

JaimeRoberto said...

Are there portraits of all former first ladies in the White House?

The Godfather said...

Can we please replace her with Melania ASAP?

Brent said...

How many First Dog Paintings are in the White House?

Expat(ish) said...

All I could think of was: "The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe" is a great kids book.

I am not László.

-XC

Todd said...

I seriously doubt he gives her much thought these days other than whether the DOJ should investigate her or not. He may not even know her portrait is there.

Todd said...

In fact the only reason it still hangs there is he did not know it was there...

bagoh20 said...

"Behind every great man ..."

Owen said...

Can he send it back like the Churchill bust?

gspencer said...

Why was there a portrait of that Democrat hag in a White House hallway to begin with?

Com'n, Donald, fumigate the place ! Now !

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

It's cool that the kids are so excited. That must really really piss off the hack MSM.

Squints said...

Meh. Sometimes a cigar, well, you know.....

Nyamujal said...

A better headline would be "Trump teaches school kids how to properly pwn your opponent".
Or, "Schoolyard bully reveals tricks of the trade".

FWBuff said...

That was a fun surprise, and something those kids will always remember. It's also remarkable how energized Trump seems to be by that interaction.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Left Bank of the Charles said...

Credit where credit is due, that's some world class trolling of Hillary right there, Complete deniability. If only he could achieve that level of trolling on twitter.

Ann Althouse said...

Ken's answer makes me think I should have had another option:

To make the video viral and force people to talk about it.

Hari said...

Compare and contrast how he is treating her now that he's in power (not going after her) with how he was and is being treated by the former administration.

David Begley said...

He said to the children, "Come on to me."

AllenS said...

How cool would it have been if Trump appeared in front of a picture of Hillary behind bars?

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Somebody check it for dart holes!

exhelodrvr1 said...

All her bases are belong to us.

Trumpit said...

A screaming, hysterical juvenile lynching party is what that was. Had it not been for the Secret Service, Trump would have been strung up. That young North Korean boy got close enough to smear VX nerve agent on the president. This was a Muslim youth assassination squad intent on beheading the heretical president with sharpened knives.

I'm not surprised that Trump hasn't had the portrait of Hillary taken down, and replaced with one of Melania. Melania is thrilled to live in New York away from that lout, I'm sure.

TreeJoe said...

Did anyone notice his tie was an appropriate length?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

A screaming, hysterical juvenile lynching party is what that was.



That's what the hack press are reporting. I see you got the memo.

buwaya said...

"That young North Korean boy got close enough to smear VX nerve agent on the president. This was a Muslim youth assassination squad"

These are fine premises for a thriller. Too bad there have been some White House terrorism movies already, but you can always refresh an old idea.

The Norks actually used Vietnamese and Indonesian patsies. You could work with that too I'm sure.

Given the state of Hollywood re Trump, being deep in insanity, I think you could easily sell a screenplay. Strike while the iron, or bitterness, is hot.

roesch/voltaire said...

He didn't mean to step in front of her picture just like he didn't mean to meet the Russian diplomat according to the WSJ
"A few minutes before he made those remarks, Mr. Trump met at a VIP reception with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak. Mr. Trump warmly greeted Mr. Kislyak and three other foreign ambassadors who came to the reception."
But he said he never met any Russians!

William said...

I think all First Ladies have an official portrait done. The one of Grace Coolidge by Christy is said to be the best. Jackie had it in the White House not because of any special affinity for Grace Coolidge but because the portrait was so striking. I think Presidents are given absolute latitude as to their choice of paintings. It's odd that Hillary is still hanging around the White House.........I don't know if Trump actually planned that. It would be kind of Machiavellian if he did. I hope he did. With the tweets and now this, it's hard to tell if he's impulsive or rather adept at playing the media while pretending to be impulsive.

Matt Sablan said...

"And why the hell is her picture in the White House? What did she accomplish?"

-- I believe every First Lady has a portrait.

Bay Area Guy said...

I like the video, as AprilApple notes above. There's some real good mojo caused by the sound of happy, excited kids. I don't have grandkids yet (fingers crossed!), but I do remember when my kids were that age. You can tell that Trump has grandkids, and knows how to handle the excitement and affection. It might be from this status as a celebrity as well.

Curious George said...

"And why the hell is her picture in the White House?"

Not for quality head.

Yancey Ward said...

Trump is trolling Hillary fans.

Michael K said...

R/V the right is supposed to be the ones with conspiracy theories.

Cheryl said...

Thanks, William. I went to look up Grace's portrait--that is really gorgeous. Should be the standard that the other portraits are judged by. And, by that standard, Hillary in her pantsuit is OUT.

MathMom said...

As someone on another blog posted in the comment section today: "That's not a portrait of Hillary. That is a "Wanted" poster."

MathMom said...

Cheryl and William -

I looked up Grace's portrait, too. Is it the one with the WH in the background and Grace with a dog, or the one with her sitting sideways? I like the second one very much.

MaxedOutMama said...

Well, if he ordered her portrait removed, probably school would have to be cancelled for a week so the teachers could properly protest.

Trump's choice of DeVos shows he cares about education, so. ...

I would think it beyond the probable that Trump would stage something in the WH in front of her portrait.

West Texas Intermediate Crude said...

It happened to be the best location for PDT to show his admiration for Hillary by cruelly mocking her with lighthearted teasing.

Darrell said...

Trump saved those kids. Their souls would have been sucked into Hell if they got too close to the Hillary portrait. Close call!

David said...

Why is there a huge portrait of Hillary at all in the wh?

In her final revenge, after our civilization is utterly destroyed, a future race of Amazons finds the location of the White House. The only remaining image is a portrait of Hillary, whom they take to be the leader of the world until the plague struck.

Fabi said...

Curious George@4:09 made me expend fine Scotch through my nostrils.

Birches said...

I hope all of those children were screaming in excitement. Some of their parents might have told them Trump eats small children for breakfast.

Roadkill711 said...

Clearly, Trump wanted to honor Hillary, and her greatest accomplishment, by standing in front of her portrait. She was married to a man who was elected President of the United States.

William said...

Re Grace Coolidge: It's the portrait of her in red that was the official one, and it caused a stir at the time. Calvin asked why she had to be painted in a red dress. The artist said for balance with the white dog. Calvin said why didn't you paint the dog red and give her a white dress.....Source: Amity Shlaes biography of Coolidge.

SukieTawdry said...

I think he chose the spot deliberately and had some fun with it. I thought it was quite funny.

Humperdink said...

Surprised someone has painted a mustache on her.

traditionalguy said...

Brits like his Mum do like their darts.

MathMom said...

Thanks for the interesting story about the red dress, William!

Anonymous said...

Ha Ha Ha, the geographic distributions and the "it just happened to be" excusionists, well, it seems self explanatory.

exhelodrvr1 said...

"She was married to a man who was elected President of the United States."

That's certainly nothing to sneer at!!

Tank said...

Trump actually likes ordinary people.

Bob Loblaw said...

R/V the right is supposed to be the ones with conspiracy theories.

That one didn't even make sense. This election has really shaken the American left to its core.

Quaestor said...

Here's Nancy Reagan's official First Lady portrait. Notice the gown — a demure, classical simple garment reminiscent of the virtuous stola. Now consider her face, most evident is the calm confidence of the natural aristocrat. Nancy needs nothing from the viewer. One can admire her, or not. Mrs. Reagan doesn't care.

Hillary's official White House portrait is truly shocking in contrast. A historian in the distance future might conclude that the ancient empire known as America had fallen to an invasion of barbarians, and the painting was mocking parody of the dignity that had gone before. The gown,,, what gown? It the same goddamned pantsuit she always wears, except marginally less insane than the others. And look at her right hand — it's gesturing to a book — her book, that insipid monstrosity called "It Takes A Village". Absolutely no class. No consider the face, if you dare... What does that face say? It says Love me! Worship me! Obey me!... or my operatives will arrange your mysterious demise. Madness, utter madness.

Anonymous said...

"She was crushed and I am the victor" actually sounds more plausible as a Schwarzenegger line, somehow.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

Option #5, the meet was planned by a staffer hired by Obama.

Lost My Cookies said...

Love the close caption. (children screaming)

dbp said...

I doubt anyone, most especially Trump intended this, but imagine the weirdness of that same scene except with president Hillary Clinton there, instead of Trump? Odd and reminiscent of the way Communist regimes like to paste giant pictures of their rulers in public places.

The leader of the free world should not be posing before pictures of themselves, or herself as the case may be.

Rance Fasoldt said...

Quaestor is absolutely correct in his exposition of the portraits. Such wisdom from the accusatory young tyke!