Posted on 04/25/2016 10:10:42 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
President Obama defended his decision to evict a bust of Winston Churchill out of the Oval Office during his first term, telling Britons today that he loves the legendary prime minister but wanted to keep tables from "looking a little cluttered."
After Obama took office, he returned a Churchill bust that the White House said had been lent to President Bush by Prime Minister Tony Blair. That replaced a Churchill bust that had been in the White House since the 1960s, which the administration said was being "worked on at the time and was later returned to the residence."
In 2010, the original Churchill bust was moved from the Oval Office to outside the Treaty Room.
"I don't know if people are aware of this, but in the residence, on the second floor, my office, my private office, is called the Treaty Room. And right outside the door of the Treaty Room, so that I see it every day, including on weekends when I'm going into that office to watch a basketball game, the primary image I see is a bust of Winston Churchill. It is there voluntarily 'cause I can do anything on the second floor," Obama said today at a press conference with Prime Minister David Cameron at which he was asked about the U.S.-UK special relationship. "I love Winston Churchill. Love the guy."
"Now, when I was elected as president of the United States, my predecessor had kept a Churchill bust in the Oval Office. "There are only so many tables where you can put busts. Otherwise, it starts looking a little cluttered. And I thought it was appropriate," he continued.
"And I suspect that most people here in the United Kingdom might agree that as the first African-American president, it might be appropriate to have a bust of Dr. Martin Luther King in my office, to remind me of all the hard work of a lot of people who would somehow allow me to have the privilege of holding this office... I think people should know that, know my thinking there."
Obama, who insisted during the press conference that he's not trying to influence whether the UK withdraws from the European Union, stressed that "we are so bound together that nothing is going to impact the emotional and cultural and intellectual affinities between our two countries."
"So I don't come here suggesting in any way that that is impacted by a decision that the people of the United Kingdom may make around whether or not they are members of the European Union. That is there, that's solid and that will continue hopefully eternally. And the cooperation in all sorts of ways, through NATO, through G-7, G-20, all of those things will continue," he added.
"But, as David said, if one of our best friends is in an organization that enhances their influence and enhances their power and enhances their economy, then I want them to stay in it, or at least I want to be able to tell them, you know, I think this makes you guys bigger players. I think this helps your economy. I think this helps to create jobs. And so ultimately, it's your decision, but precisely because we're bound at the hip, I want you to know that before you make your decision."
Clutter=Churchill?!#/*^/@#$
What a Jackwagon!
Hussein is such a liar.
Obama trying to ‘explain away’ a few of his many boneheaded decisions.......not gonna work. Looks even more ridiculous than before.
The only thing Obama “loved” about Churchill was when he fouled up Gallipoli against the Muzzie Turks.
So now Churchill is “clutter”. I guess that will resonate well with the British.
he dissed the bust of churchill because the british hassled his grandad when kenya was a british colony.
And imagine how the Brits must feel to know that he considered a bust of Churchill ‘clutter’.
I saw this video.
When Obama said at the press conference “I love the guy,” talking about Winston Churchill, I was dumbfounded.
He gave a good story about replacing Churchill with Martin Luther King, etc. and I believe he definitely wanted MLK’s bust in there.
But everyone knows that Obama has a pretty deep antipathy for England in general and for chruchill in particular.
Taqiyya
Remember when Obama presented the Prime Minister of England with a Walmart boxed set of American movies on DVD - that weren’t in the format used in the UK?
Or when he gifted the Queen with an iPod containing his own speeches?
Class tells!
“I’ve insulted your country once over this bust, but there is a chaince you have forgotten it. So I’d like to remind you of that insult, and I’d like to rub your noses in it. With a smile. You stupid Limeys.”
After 1,473 examples, we’re not the only ones who realize everything out of this guy’s mouth is a lie.
As if in the entire WH, he couldn’t put such a thing somewhere else. Really, really plausible. Not. He’s so arrogant, he thinks he can get away with such shallow hapless codswallop (as the Brits would say)
Late January 2017.....report from CNN:
Following his divisive, rambling, tele-prompter-less inaugural speech, President Trump today issued a plea to the British to return the bust of Winston Churchill to Washington. Seemingly bent on stirring needless controversy, Trump promised to afford the sculpture a “conspicuous place of honor” in the White House.
Though some extreme Republicans lauded the move, others seem to think the request to be a gratuitous attempt to impugn former President Barack Obama. Trump once again seems to be impervious to the facts, in that it has been clear from day one that the British held the son of a former Kenyan subject in disdain, thus fully to blame for the disfunctional relationship between the two countries, throughout our 44th President’s tenure.....
Trump also scheduled a talk with the Canadian Ambassador, ostensibly to discuss possibilities of returning to a dialogue on opening the Keystone Pipeline, or perhaps to ask for a commitment from Ottawa to pay for a wall to hinder the re-entry of patriots who fled the US in protest after his election in November.....
Zero could not fill HALF of one of Churchill shoes!
Love the guy?
Also, don’t forget that as long as the Churchill bust was there he couldn’t be the “smartest man in the room”, even when alone.
There was plenty of room for two busts in the Oval Office until 0bama had to try to lever his ego in there as well. I'm surprised they have room for chairs.
But yeah, we get the thinking. "White guys out. You didn't build that." We get it.
Odungo thinks the Brits have short memories..... POS
Bathhouse Barry isn’t competent enough to light Sir Winston’s cigars.
Churchill could accomplish more in his sleep in one weekend than the Kenyan has in seven years in the White House.
I am so sick of this guy being referred to as an African-American.
He is mixed race.
Period.
.
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