White House Displays Controversial Plaques

The White House has added new plaques that criticize former presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama. These plaques are placed under portraits in the "Presidential Walk of Fame, " a recent addition to the White House colonnade. The plaque under Biden's portrait calls him "Sleepy Joe" and claims he is the worst president in American history. It mentions his "severe mental decline" and accuses him of various failures, including the Afghanistan withdrawal and the 2024 presidential debate loss. The plaque also repeats false claims about the 2020 election being corrupt. The plaque under Obama's portrait refers to him as "Barack Hussein Obama" and calls him one of the most divisive figures in American history. It criticizes his policies, such as the Affordable Care Act, the Iran Nuclear Deal, and the Paris Climate Accords. It also repeats the baseless claim that Obama spied on Trump's 2016 campaign.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the plaques, saying they were written by Trump himself. She described them as "eloquently written descriptions" of each president's legacy. The plaques summarizing Trump's time as president paint a very positive picture. They highlight his tax cuts, economic policies, and foreign policy decisions. The plaques also mention his second-term plans, including building a missile defense shield and renaming the Gulf of Mexico. The reaction to these plaques has been mixed. Some Republicans, like Sen. Lisa Murkowski, find them inappropriate. Others, like Sen. Lindsey Graham, see them as amusing but not significant. The White House has not responded to questions about who paid for the plaques or who installed them.