At least one senior official was sickened by President Donald Trump’s photo opportunity at St. John’s Episcopal Church.
U.S. Park Police and National Guard troops used tear gas to clear Lafayette Park of peaceful protesters Monday afternoon so the president, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, William Barr and other administration officials could walk from the White House to the historic church to pose for a photo.
“There were some aide that is thought this was an instantly iconic photo,” Axios co-founder Mike Allen told MSNBC’s “First Look.” “They were very proud of themselves, but there were others that took a look at this picture, and you pull back the camera, Republicans I was talking to and texting with last night, they took a look at this, you pull pack the camera, and you have the president standing kind of alone in front of this boarded-up church, boarded up because of the violence that had been going on there. Someone had tried to set a fire in the basement. Is that really the story they wanted to tell?” Continue reading.