After delivering a very egotistical speech at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service in Johannesburg, South Africa earlier today, President Obama was caught taking ‘selfies’ in the stands with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt. First Lady Michelle Obama, who was stoically sitting next to the group, did not participate.
See the photo in question below:
“Didn’t we do a story like three weeks ago about a person taking a picture at a funeral,” Glenn asked on radio this morning, “and we were like, ‘Who does that? Do you have no sense of where you are?’”
When a memorial service was held for former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle earlier this year at Dallas Cowboys Stadium, TheBlaze sent journalists to cover the event. Glenn explained that he laid out strict guidelines for all staff attending the service to ensure nothing interfered with the somberness of the event.
“You know, when I was at Chris Kyle’s funeral – and that was at the stadium here - TheBlaze journalists were there. And I specifically said to them, ‘Do not take any pictures. You stand way up in the back. You don’t get into people’s faces. And you remember you are at a memorial service,’” Glenn recalled. “As the press, I told them not to do any of that. And the President is taking a selfie?!”
As Stu explained, there is a popular Tumblr blog, “Selfies at Funerals”, that compiles inappropriate photographs taken at funeral services. Prior to today, the page primarily featured clueless teenagers and young adults, but now President Obama finds himself prominently displayed on the blog where the ill-timed selfie will live in infamy.
“I cannot believe he didn’t think, ‘This is going to come back to haunt me,’” Pat said exasperatedly. “Are you that stupid… He’s got a grin on his face at Nelson Mandela’s funeral!”
“No, he’s not that stupid. He’s not that stupid,” Glenn said emphatically. “He is that arrogant. No one has ever told him, ‘No.’”
You know the Obama Administration is already working on a way to spin the incident, which promoted Stu to question what the excuse would be this time.
Maybe he can blame the Dutch Prime Minister for taking the picture. Or they can claim they were really watching a video of Mandela on the phone.
All kidding aside, Glenn said it best: “There is no excuse…. What are you thinking?”
Front page image courtesy of the AP