"God tier trolling"— Tan suit controversy explained as the internet reacts to Kamala Harris' wardrobe at DNC 2024

For the inaugural night of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) 2024, Kamala Harris wore a tan-colored pantsuit with a white top, drawing immediate comparisons to her mentor and former U.S. President Barack Obama.

For those unaware, during a press conference in August 2014, Obama sported a similar tan suit, with a white shirt and striped tie in contrast to his usual wardrobe comprising of navy blue, gray, or black suits. His outfit immediately drew criticism from the conservatives, including late Fox News’ far-right presenter Lou Dobbs, who called the attire “un-Presidential.”

Kamala Harris’ wardrobe choice for the opening night of DNC 2024 is thus deemed a shoutout to Obama and a slap in the face of his critics. In this regard, the internet is having varied reactions. For instance, X user @TheSidJoShow shared a video of the Vice President’s stage entry at the United Center, Chicago, for the convention and captioned it:

“She opened the night in a tan suit. God tier trolling.”

Many others joined the conversation and shared similar thoughts and opinions.

“Possibly the best unintentional trolling tonight was Kamala Harris in the tan suit, lol,” a person wrote.

“Kamala Harris showing up on the first night of the DNC in a tan suit is the biggest non-verbal shade I’ve seen thrown at a convention,” one person wrote.

“And wearing a tan suit as well. Top-tier trolling right there #KamalaHarris #DemocraticNationalConvention,” another person wrote.

Others claimed that Kamala Harris carried the outfit well, with some adding that it was better than Barack Obama’s appearance.

“The best part is, that tan suit looks fabulous on her. Even better than it looked on Obama,” a netizen wrote.

“I laughed out loud. She looked fantastic and that entrance to Beyonce following that video was epic,” another netizen wrote.

Meanwhile, some pointed out that Kamala Harris should have brought out a packet of Doritos with her to make her tan suit appearance all the more epic.

“Imagine if she walked out with a bag or Doritos. Fox would have imploded” an individual wrote.

“The only thing missing was a bag of Doritos. It's on!” another individual wrote.

For those uninitiated, over the weekend, Kamala Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz, tweeted a video of him handing over a packet of Doritos to her during their campaign stop at a local Pennsylvania convenience store.

“Every road trip needs a snack break. Doritos acquired. I got you, @KamalaHarris,” he captioned the post.

The clip came in the wake of Kamala Harris sharing an anecdote via an email campaign that on the day of the 2016 election results, she was so shocked to learn that Donald Trump won the presidency that she went home, sat on her couch, and indulged in a family-size bag of Doritos while watching the news in disbelief.

“Two things are true eight years later: I still love Doritos and we still have not stopped fighting,” she observed.

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Exploring the Barack Obama tan suit controversy in the wake of Kamala Harris’ DNC 2024 wardrobe choice

On August 28, 2014, then-American President Barack Obama held a live press conference at the White House to talk about the prospect of “escalating” the response of the U.S. military to combating ISIS in Syria. For this meet, he donned a tan-colored suit, which was deemed an unconventional choice for his presidential attire, so much so that it sparked a widespread debate.

Longtime Obama critic Lou Dobbs called the light-colored “casual” suit “shocking to a lot of people” and hinted that it was the President’s way of sending a “subtle message” to the enemies. Likewise, Republican Representative Peter King told the media that it was unsuitable for discussing a matter as sensitive as terrorism, adding that it made him look “less serious” on the global stage.

“(Obama) looked like he was on his way to a party at the Hamptons,” the New Yorker mentioned at the time to CNN.

Conservative political commentators and a section of the mainstream media also made several jokes about Obama’s tan suit. For instance, they played on the former President’s favorite expression, “Yes We Can,” and turned it into “Yes We Tan.” Similarly, Obama’s book titled The Audacity of Hope was parodied into “The Audacity of Taupe.”

Notably, the White House Press Secretary John Earnest said President Obama felt “pretty good” about his choice. At the same time, designer Joseph Abboud, who often styled Barack, lauded him for the decision, saying it made him not “look the same every day” nor “boring.”

Obama’s tan suit controversy also brought to attention that other former U.S. Presidents, including Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, wore similar attires during their Oval Office stay.

Over the years, Obama has used the incident as a funny anecdote, while Joe Biden himself wore a tan suit for a press conference in August 2021, around its seventh anniversary. Back then, it was also deemed as a shade to Obama's critics.