On Barack Obama’s 60th birthday Wednesday, fans of the 44th president celebrated by reminding us that the worst scandal of his administration was that time he wore a tan suit at an August 2014 press appearance.
In one instance an obvious Obama acolyte tweeted, "Happy 60th birthday to a former President, who’s biggest scandal was wearing a tan suit. #HappyBirthdayObama."
This legend was promoted by mainstream media reports that marked the five-year anniversary of the "scandal."
For example, The Washington Post reported that "on Aug. 28, 2014, when President Barack Obama showed up for a White House news conference dressed in beige, the light-colored suit became a matter of national import."
An MSNBC remembrance suggested the tan suit was the only controversy of any importance.
"It's been five years since Pres. Obama shocked the world by wearing a tan suit," they tweeted. Chris Jansing takes a look back at how that suit has become a symbol for the lack of scandals during the Obama administration."
"Lack of scandals"? How soon they forget.
Grabien founder Tom Nichols compiled a comprehensive list of all reports of the Obama administration scandals, both great and small. He listed them in alphabetical order, and included the date of the scandal,l together with a brief description. It numbers nearly 800, and neither the word "tan" nor "beige" appears anywhere. Also missing is any entry dated Aug. 28, 2014.
His scandals even became the subject of a bestselling book, "The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama," by Matt Margolis. The author ignored the more trivial scandals to concentrate on "only" the 29 major ones.
But more than that, the book detailed how fans of the 44th president, including major legacy media outlets, covered for him, carried his water, and repeatedly marveled at what a great statesman he was.
"Obama’s supporters in the media, academia, and the grassroots of the Democratic Party are invested in the idea that his presidency was an unparalleled success, and that he was the archetype of presidential ethics," wrote Margolis. "Nothing could be further from the truth, as the following pages prove, but if they repeat their lies often enough, perhaps others will believe them."
Many of Obama’s scandals can be best described as an abuse of power.
They include the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative organizations seeking IRS non-profit status, whose applications were often placed on the back burner.
Other times the organizations were repeatedly asked for additional information until the groups eventually gave up. Non-profit status applications from left-leaning organizations were summarily processed.
Another abuse of power includes the AP spying scandal. In that instance, under the flimsiest of evidence, the FBI reportedly collected data from the phone lines of The Associated Press.
The FBI also reportedly spied on then-Fox News reporter James Rosen.
Additionally, former CBS News investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson feels she has reason to believe that the Obama administration spied on her and "many, many others."
Then there was Operation Fast and Furious, where the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) under Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder, permitted Arizona gun dealers to illegally sell firearms to Mexican traffickers — purportedly to nab dealers in Mexican drug cartels.
Those guns have since been traced to the murder of numerous Mexican citizens, as well as American law-enforcement officers.
The biggest abuse of power arguably took place in 2016 — Obama’s last full year in office.
That was when the FBI illegally spied on then-candidate Donald Trump’s political campaign. The evidence used to secure the search warrants was unverified opposition research — later found to be false — provided by the Democratic Party and the Hillary Clinton campaign.
Then there was the grossly mishandled affair in Benghazi, Libya, when the U.S. diplomatic outpost there was overrun by insurgents, resulting in the deaths of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens.
And don’t forget Obama’s oft-repeated claim when touting Obamacare that "if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor, and if you like your plan, you can keep your plan."
That one earned Obama PolitiFact’s coveted "lie of the year" award.
Those are just a few highlights, but yeah, his supporters claim that his only "scandal" was the time he wore a tan suit.
It could be that they’re on to something, however. Maybe Obama wore that tan suit every time he abused his power as a president depriving America of honest, ethical leadership.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to BizPac Review and Liberty Unyielding. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter, who can often be found honing his skills at the range. Read Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.