Pete Souza spent years photographing Barack Obama in the White House, and now he has found a new pastime in trolling Donald Trump.
The former White House photographer inserted himself into Trump’s bizarre Time magazine spat this week, reminding the current office holder that his predecessor was apparently a lot more popular with the publication.
This week, Trump tweeted a message that he had been offered the honor of Time’s Person of the Year, but turned it down. That sparked a spat with the magazine’s management and earned Trump quite a bit of criticism for apparently concerning himself more with accolades than leading the country.
That is where Pete Souza stepped in. As The Hill noted, Obama’s former photographer posted a picture showing all the times that either Barack or Michelle Obama were featured on the cover of Time magazine, with most of the appearances lauding the president and his accomplishments.
The picture had already been making the rounds on social media, garnering more than 200,000 likes and spreading across Twitter and Facebook. Many noted that Obama did not seem to concern himself with media attention as Donald Trump has through the first year of his presidency, yet was still much more popular with mainstream media.
Time magazine had already struck back against Trump’s claim that he was offered the honor of Person of the Year but turned it down.
Trump sparked the spat on Friday, tweeting, “Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named ‘Man (Person) of the Year,’ like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!”
But within hours, Time magazine offered a reply that they had never offered the honor to Trump, the Telegraph noted.
“The President is incorrect about how we choose Person of the Year. TIME does not comment on our choice until publication, which is December 6,” the magazine tweeted.
That led a number of celebrities to post their own rejections to Time magazine to make fun of Trump. New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard posted a message claiming that he was offered Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year honors but turned it down because he wasn’t happy with his hair.
Sports Illustrated called and said I was probably going to be Sportsman of the Year, but it was going to take a long photo shoot and interview. I’m not proud of my recent perm and have a interpretive dance class at the interview time so I turned it down! No Thanks SI!!
— Noah Syndergaard (@Noahsyndergaard) November 25, 2017
The criticism seems to have actually gotten to Donald Trump. Though the president is often quick to shoot back at his critics, he has remained largely silent after Time magazine’s response and the viral trend to make fun of his tweet.
[Featured Image by Chris Hondros/Getty Images]