President Donald Trump invited Sarah Palin, Ted Nugent, and Kid Rock to the White House for dinner on Wednesday night, and the internet is confused as to why.
UPDATE: Following the internet uproar caused by President Donald Trump’s dinner guests on Wednesday night, Sarah Palin is receiving heavy criticism for mocking Hillary Clinton.
As a former vice presidential candidate and a female politician, Palin has faced the same sexism and misogyny that Clinton endured during her presidential run. While the two may have vastly different political views, their experiences as women trying to infiltrate a male-dominated White House are parallel.
This is why many people are disturbed by the fact that Palin would be cozying up to the likes of Ted Nugent and Trump, who have greatly disrespected Clinton and women, in general.
As Democratic strategist Paul Begala aptly noted on CNN:
“One thing I admire about Governor Palin, honestly, is that she has spoken out when she has been the target of really vicious sexism from the left and she has defended her children when they’ve been attacked and she, herself, has been. So, it’s kind of unfortunate that she’s buddying up with Nugent who has — he’s a rocker and I’m not going to get all gassed up about it — but he has said the most vile things about Hillary you could say.”
Begala added that Palin should be holding her own friends to the same standard that she holds those who have said terrible things about her.
Even President Barack Obama’s former photographer, Pete Souza, posted a photo response to the tacky image of Palin, Nugent and Kid Rock. Souza’s photo — which he posted on Instagram with the caption “Being respectful” — depicts Obama sitting with his White House chief of staff Bill Daley under a portrait of President Ronald Reagan.
Liberals aren't the only ones who find the photos to be in poor taste; Republican David Gergen offered his perspective of the images on CNN, which he considers “offensive.”
“Look, it’s one thing to poke fun but the White House is a special place for all the people,” Gergen said. “Those pictures are offensive, that’s the way a lot of people will see it on the other side. I personally think they would have been better off if they wanted to play games with pictures, that’s fine but I wouldn’t have posted them.”
The commentators noted that other presidents, including Obama and the Clintons, have faced backlash for having some of their famous friends casually hanging out at the White House, such as when the Clintons allowed Steven Spielberg to stay in the Lincoln room. However, making a deliberate mockery of a former president or first lady takes the cake.
President Donald Trump hosted a meeting of misfits, so to speak, on Wednesday night that included Sarah Palin, Ted Nugent, and Kid Rock.
Behold the photos:
.@SarahPalinUSA brought Ted Nugent and Kid Rock into the Oval Office to meet with @POTUS and Jared Kushner and yes that is a real sentence. pic.twitter.com/sHYUrVLVl3
— Alex Mallin (@alex_mallin) April 20, 2017
White House dinner guests last night: From left: Shemane Deziel (aka Mrs. Nugent), Ted Nugent, Sarah Palin, @POTUS, Audrey Berry, Kid Rock. pic.twitter.com/4Q58gKAber
— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) April 20, 2017
Palin shared some of her images from the evening on social media, thanking Trump for the invitation to hang out with him in the Oval Office. From the looks of it, the whole thing was one big photo-op to prove there are “famous” people who actually like Trump.
Taking a moment to add insult to injury, the three of them took a photo together in front of Hillary Clinton’s portrait, mocking it. Nugent’s wife posted the picture with the caption, “Sarah Palin, Kid Rock, and Ted Nugent walk into a bar…”
Chelsea Clinton caught wind of the photos and addressed them on Twitter, posing the important question that many of us are asking ourselves:
“The first Q should be why is a man the Secret Service interviewed for making threats against President Obama now standing in the Oval Office,” Chelsea Clinton tweeted referring to Nugent who was investigated in 2012 for inflammatory remarks he made at an NRA convention, ABC News reports.
The first Q should be why is a man the Secret Service interviewed for making threats against President Obama now standing in the Oval Office https://t.co/JJcpo67bFM
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) April 20, 2017
Nugent also posted about the meeting, which was conveniently kept off the official White House public schedule. In a blog post, he revealed that the group had dinner and discussed some policy-related matters.
“We discussed specifically the counterproductive follies of the Endangered Species Act and the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the US Fish & Wildlife Service, BLM and other out of control bureaucracies," Nugent said.
Naturally, the internet had a field day with this bizarre event.
Sarah Palin, Ted Nugent and Kid Rock were guests at the White House, which helps explain why they don't want to release the visitor logs.
— Nick Jack Pappas (@Pappiness) April 20, 2017
It was at this moment Sarah Palin became able to see Russia from a house. https://t.co/adjBOB2cc3
— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) April 20, 2017
"I’m going to surround myself only with the best and most serious people." (Sarah Palin, Ted Nugent, Kid Rock meet Trump in the Oval Office) pic.twitter.com/wE8ww5tZ7D
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) April 20, 2017
Donald Trump, Kid Rock, Ted Nugent and Sarah Palin walk into the Oval Office...
— Jonathan Diener (@jonodiener) April 20, 2017
This actually happened. The only joke is our country.
why is sarah palin dressed like she's about go to a singles mixer at the moose lodge https://t.co/JAvtQ3aysJ
— #BrittanySpanos (@ohheybrittany) April 20, 2017
Look! Ted Nugent! Sarah Palin! Kid Rock! Future Ex-President Don! It's the next cast of "Dancing With Trailer Park Trash!" https://t.co/e5kI5ijEq6
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) April 20, 2017
Sarah Palin can see Russia from her house, so Trump’s basically a next-door neighbor.
— John Gholson (@gholson) April 20, 2017
It’s still unclear why this gathering actually took place. However, according to USA Today, there have been talks of Nugent and Kid Rock planning to run for the Senate in Michigan, which is odd to say the least, but stranger things have happened — like that time America voted for a racist, sexist, Islamophobic reality television star for president.
Banner and thumbnail credit: Reuters
Carbonated.TV
Facebook Conversations
Recommended For You
