Fox News host Laura Ingraham has suggested that former President Barack Obama’s eight years in office was marked by failure because he was succeeded by his polar opposite: Donald Trump.
The primetime host of The Ingraham Angle delivered her take on Wednesday night while complaining about what she considered breathless coverage of the 44th president’s visit to the White House for a ceremony unveiling portraits of himself and former first lady Michelle Obama.
“It’s one of those days, when the media pretends that Obama was a totally successful president,” said Ms Ingraham, labelling him “the establishment’s last real chance”.
“And Obama, I would say blew it. Because his administration was two terms, but it led directly to the rise of populism and the election of Donald Trump,” she quipped. “How could that be a success?”
Mr Trump, who Ms Ingraham has described in previous broadcasts as being a person she has counted as a friend for more than two decades, controversially blocked the Obamas portrait unveiling ceremony during his tenure in the Oval Office, continuing with his trend of breaking precedents set long before his entry into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Though neither explicitly named Joe Biden’s predecessor in their addresses, both the former president and the former first lady seemed to acknowledge the awkward reality during Wednesday’s portrait unveiling.
“Thanks to your decency, and thanks to your strength – maybe most of all, thanks to your faith in our democracy and the American people, the country is better off than when you took office,” said Mr Obama in a rousing speech evocative of a time when he resided in the White House, during which Mr Biden served as his vice-president.
Ms Obama similarly echoed those points, but took up a more serious note by seeming to reference the tumultuous weeks following the 2020 presidential election when Mr Trump and his loyalists attempted to push a lie that the election had been stolen from the 45th president
“You see the people, they make their voices heard with their vote, we hold an inauguration to ensure a peaceful transition of power. Those of us lucky enough to serve, work, as Barack said, as hard as we can for as long as we can, as long as the people choose to keep us here. And once our time is up, we move on,” she said.
While Trump snubbed the Obamas, it’s unclear whether the same favour will be returned to Mr Biden’s predecessor when it comes time for Biden and First Lady Jill Biden to welcome the Trumps back into the White House when their portraits are revealed.
When pressed for details about this, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre seemed to deflect responsibility to answering that loaded question by saying that she would “defer those questions to the White House Historical Association”.
“They lead the process on official portraits for both presidents and their spouses. So that question lies with them,” she said.
