Obama’s White House Photographer Suggests White House Staged Trump Situation Room Photo
Who cares that the ISIS leader is dead? The time of the photo is way more important!
The White House released a photo of President Donald Trump and his advisors watching a raid in Syria that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
President Barack Obama’s White House photographer Pete Souza suggested on social media that the White House staged the photo.
The Situation Room
President @realDonaldTrump watches as U.S. Special Operations forces close in on ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. pic.twitter.com/SAgw4KxM77
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 27, 2019
— Dan Scavino Jr.?? (@Scavino45) October 27, 2019
President Trump is joined by VP Mike Pence, National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, left; Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Army General Mark A. Milley, and Brig. Gen. Marcus Evans, Deputy Director for Special Operations…
— Dan Scavino Jr.?? (@Scavino45) October 27, 2019
…on the Joint Staff, at right, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019, in the Situation Room of the White House monitoring developments as U.S. Special Operations forces close in on notorious ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s compound in Syria with a mission to kill or capture the terrorist.
— Dan Scavino Jr.?? (@Scavino45) October 27, 2019
Souza’s Tweet
This is how Souza responded:
The raid, as reported, took place at 3:30PM Washington time. The photo, as shown in the camera IPTC data, was taken at “17:05:24”. https://t.co/XV0MFfFiTt
— Pete Souza (@PeteSouza) October 27, 2019
Well, people picked up on Souza’s thinking, agreeing the photo appeared staged and did not happen during the raid.
Souza quickly backtracked, pointing out he never said “staged.” This is true, but can you blame people for jumping to that conclusion due to the wording of his tweet?
Just to be clear, I didn’t say it was staged. Trump himself said he didn’t arrive to the Situation Room until “around 5pm”. So it’s definitely possible the photo was taken during the raid. https://t.co/h3yx8BbLAT
— Pete Souza (@PeteSouza) October 27, 2019
Trump’s schedule indicated he played golf at his golf club at 3:30 p.m. He arrived back in DC at 4:18 p.m.
Actual Timeline
Oh, look! The New York Times published the timeline of the raid, which actually happened after 6:00 p.m.
The latest reporting from the NYT: the helicopters left Iraq at 5PM (Washington time), and they reported it was about a 70-minute flight to Syria. So actual raid had to happen some time after 6:10PM. https://t.co/rErbPLJlpD
— Pete Souza (@PeteSouza) October 27, 2019
This is from The New York Times (emphasis mine):
Mr. Trump said on Sunday that officials had gathered at the White House to monitor the raid, by Army Delta Force commandos, around 5 p.m. in Washington on Saturday. He added that American forces remained in the compound occupied by Mr. al-Baghdadi in northwestern Syria for about two hours.
By 9:23 p.m., Mr. Trump was confident enough about the outcome to hint at Mr. al-Baghdadi’s death with a tweet saying, “Something very big has just happened!” But United States officials did not confirm the ISIS leader’s killing for reporters for several more hours. Mr. Trump announced it to the world from the White House on Sunday shortly after 9 a.m.
Delta Force missions targeting so-called high value targets such as Mr. al-Baghdadi often include personnel with specialized expertise in areas ranging from intelligence collection to bomb disposal. Some are also trained in biometrics and have responsibility for helping to identify targets who are captured and killed, according to American officials familiar with the process.
To the shock of absolutely no one, Souza’s tweet about the NYT article did not receive nearly as much attention as his original tweet.
Souza’s first tweet? 18,715 retweets and 50,043 likes.
Souza’s tweet with actual information and not speculation? 778 retweets and 1,911 likes.
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Comments
If it’s an ‘Obama official,’ just assume it’s some idiot.
Yes, with an IQ of about 2.0……to match…… Snark.
At least President Trump was sitting at the table like a leader, not off to the side like some JV basketball player after the varisty team’s biggest choke of the year.
That struck me too. In the photo ft the bin Ladin raid, I didn’t even notice the POTUS initially; it looked like Bidden was the one in charge and it was being run by the general at the desk.
This one, you don’t need to wonder who’s in charge.
Liberal projection at its finest. Which means the photo of Omaba in the situation room during the capture if Osama Bin Laden was absolutely staged.
Souza quickly backtracked…
Yeah, he knows the photographers are *not* permitted into an area where classified material can be seen on screens or loose papers. You get moments of ‘operational pause’ where it will be X minutes before anything happens, so the scene is ‘sanitized’ before the official photographer is permitted in to take a few shots, then hustled back out so the process can continue.
So *every* picture of an ongoing operation is staged.
Here’s how Trump can really make them go ape-shiitte,
Release the Woof-Cam video of the dog zero-ing in on al-Baghdadi, with a sound track of Patsy Cline singing I Fall to Pieces.
Wonder where the situation room photos during the Benghazi attacks are???
That would show the janitor, all alone with a vacuum cleaner.
you can’t take photos in the dark
Pete Souza’s credentials as a photographer are outstanding. His history includes being the official White House photographer to President Reagan too. Please don’t assume he is just some hack partisan – not true.
Really? Showed his true colors here!!!
You betcha!
“Please don’t assume he is just some hack partisan – not true.”
Please my butt. He IS a partisan hack commie. That part is loud and clear.
They are both staged, and they have to be.
The Obama one is clearly staged. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Obama_and_Biden_await_updates_on_bin_Laden.jpg
The laptops are all dark (except the general’s apparently), most of the critical papers are out of sight (assuming they had any with them), Obama off to the side is attempting to look serious, concerned, and involved, people at the back craning to see and be seen, and the slovenly appearance of most is intended to show that this has been going on a while (well, time to take off the tie and undo some buttons, it’s hot with all these people crammed in here; hey! Why didn’t we get a bigger conference room, were they all taken? Dunno, toss me a donut, will ya?). They are all studiously looking away from the camera to appear engrossed in the raid, and on and on.
Likewise, Trump’s sit room photo is staged. We can assume that they weren’t all sitting there staring at the camera the whole time, right? I don’t doubt for a second that Trump was there for the raid and that he was intensely involved in the whole thing, nor do I doubt that he regularly dresses appropriately even when cameras aren’t present. He respects the office (Obama never seemed to).
The question for the voting public is do you want to see your president hunched over in sportswear during a critical, historic moment, or do you want him to be presidential? Do you prefer a president who leads from behind or one who actually leads? I know how I answer both questions.
Isn’t that what the WH photographer is there for? What’s the difference between posing for an official shot vs “staging” anyway? The photog doesn’t have the security clearance to be present for most the POTUS’ business. That’s just the way it’s done.
Excellent point! Upon reflection, I will have to disagree with my original statement that President Trump’s is “staged.” It’s just an official shot for public consumption. On the other hand, Obama’s is definitely staged: the whole thing stinks of phony.
I believe “staging” would be setting up a dramatic shot by either re-enacting a moment or making one up. This was just attendees of a meeting posing for the history books.
Didn’t Hillary release a photo where she was Photoshopped into the released pic? I may be wrong but I think it actually was the same Bin Laden photo with Obama in his golf jacket. I know it happened, I just can’t remember what the event was.
Well, I expect the video of the Raid isn’t staged.. 🙂
Anyone seen any more about this?
Trump Mulls Partial Video Release Of Baghdadi Raid
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-mulls-partial-video-release-baghdadi-raid
https://twitter.com/alx/status/1188809362481000448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1188809362481000448&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.redditmedia.com%2Fmediaembed%2Fdo8ujr%3Fresponsive%3Dtrue%26is_nightmode%3Dfalse
I don’t need to see proof. Rejoice in a job well done and move on to the next target.
Because Obama’s Bin Laden photo was absolutely NOT STAGED!!!! Remember the conjectures of whether Obama was cut and pasted into the situation Room photo, because he’s really small compared to everyone else, and he wasn’t wearing office clothes, etc. And he looks angry.
“And he looks angry.”
Well if your round of golf was interrupted you would be angry too.
And remember the rumors of Rice having allowed the operation to start while he was out of the office, and not telling him right away so he did not get back before the strike force was already committed. That’d put him in a royal snitty mood for hours.
Just when you thought Democjrats couldn’t possibly be any more petty…
Haters gotta hate