In 2011, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton slipped into the White House Situation Room under the cover of darkness. The occasion, and the cause for such secrecy, was Operation Neptune Spear, better known as the mission to deliver Osama Bin-Laden into the hands of the United States, dead or alive. Gathered with Obama, Biden and Clinton were CIA Director John Brennan, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and photographer Pete Souza. The picture Souza snapped of the meeting is notable for its rawness. Obama’s eyes are sunken back, his shoulders low and tense, while Clinton nervously has a hand clasped over her mouth; for Souza, it was just another day in the job.
For eight years, Souza was the Chief Official White House Photographer, and witnessed everything from Obama’s first day in office to his negotiation of the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal. Souza has been present at so many top-secret meetings The New Republic dubbed him one of the “most powerful, least famous people” in Washington. After the Obama Administration, many wondered what the young ex-president would do with his free time. Some speculated a return to politics, but while Obama spent the first year and a half of his post-presidency receding from the spotlight, Souza made sure his former boss stayed a relevant part of the national dialogue.
As President Trump made it his mission to undo as much of Obama’s legacy as possible, Souza took to the offensive on his Instagram account to compare and contrast the current Trump Administration with similar moments from Obama’s. The day Trump announced his nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, Souza posted a picture of Obama with his ill-fated Supreme Court nominee Judge Merrick Garland simply captioned, “Merrick Garland, just saying.” In 2017, after it was reported that Trump had a fiery phone call with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull over upholding a commitment Obama made to accept 1,250 refugees from Australia, Souza posted a picture of Obama and Turnbull laughing with each other.
Souza’s digs at the current president generated so much attention that it prompted him to publish a new book of photos “Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents” that takes his Instagram feed to a new level. If his Instagram account was a subtle jab at the current president, “Shade” is a full blown haymaker to the way Trump carries himself.
“It kind of started with the lying about the inauguration date crowd, but the thing that really got me is when he accused President Obama of tapping his phones,” Souza said in an interview with Boston Public Radio. “He was accusing my former boss of a high crime without any evidence at all on Twitter, by the way he couldn’t spell the word tap right, he spelled it with two T’s. That's when I was just like ‘he’s gone too far.’”
For Souza, unlike many former Obama staffers, the criticism of Trump isn’t particularly partisan, he spent six years as the Chief Official White House Photographer for Ronald Reagan, it’s what he sees as a lack of respect Trump has for the office, and thus the nation.
“A lot of my commentary is not necessarily about the current president's policies, it’s the way he behaves in office, which to me is disrespectful to the Office of the President. He doesn’t even respect other people, except for himself,” Souza said.
On the day Souza’s book hit stores, Obama was traveling the nation stumping for candidates in Ohio, California, Florida, and Georgia, breaking with tradition, and forcefully making many of the same critiques Souza had been implying since 2016.
“America is at a crossroads. The healthcare of millions is on the ballot, a fair shake for working families is on the ballot, perhaps most importantly, the character of our country is on the ballot,” Obama told a crowd in Indiana as one spectator yelled, “I wish I could vote for you!”
Out of the shadows, Obama is now the one throwing shade directly at Donald Trump and the Republican establishment that have supported him.
As for what he thinks will happen on election day, Souza is laconic.
“If people come out to vote, the results will be OK,” he said.
