Some are calling it the “latte salute.” Others prefer the coffee salute, and/or the single most baffling display of disrespect in the history of the U.S.A.
Call it what you want, President Barack Obama saluted two Marines today while holding a hot beverage … in a video posted by the White House’s OWN INSTAGRAM!
Fascinating moments in social media fails.
Obama stepped off Marine One at the Wall Street landing zone in New York City this afternoon, en route to the United Nations General Assembly.
As he saluted two Marines at the bottom of the stairs, the sunglasses-wearing president only managed a half-salute, since he was holding a coffee and all.
The odd gesture appeared in an Instagram video posted by the White House‘s account, which is bizarre and begs many questions in and of itself.
Why share something like this when it’s just asking for ridicule – which it got, and then some – with critics slamming the unorthodox salute as “un-presidential.”
Did the person who runs the account not notice the salute? Or think it was somehow cool to do this? We may never know, but it’s pretty amazing.
“Hopefully it was just a slip by this President,” one user posted, in what was by far the nicest thing anyone had to say and one of the few comments we can repeat.
Others saw unnecessary nitpicking at work. “People are dying from disease, abuse or even hunger,” another user commented on the video. “Priorities.”
Interestingly, it is protocol for U.S. service members in uniform to salute the commander in chief, but it is not required for a civilian president to salute back.
Military experts say that President Ronald Reagan set the precedent in 1981 when he began saluting back to armed services members each time.
No word on whether he got a pumpkin spice latte with skim milk from Starbucks – cue epic Taylor Swift ode to fall – or if Obama still prefers hot tea.
