Trump hits out at 'orange' photos highlighting unflattering tan line: 'This was photoshopped, obviously'
President Donald Trump has hit back at all the trolls who criticized his appearance in a recent photo that appears to show a very unflattering tan line around his face.
A black-and-white photo that showed a clear contrast between the parts of the president's face that had been tanned and the parts that didn't, went viral yesterday after a Dutch user by the name of Maarten vd Linden tweeted it and wrote, "OMG America, your president! #trump@POTUS @realDonaldTrump #toomuchmakeup #orangeface".
Thousands of other users soon picked up the photo and retweeted it. "Fake hair, fake tan, fake teeth, fake president," one user wrote alongside a colorized picture that highlighted the tan line even further.
"It's amazing that a president who bullies opponents based on looks... staffs his administration on the same basis... himself looks so grotesque," wrote a second user.
"Let’s make sure @realDonaldTrump sees this. It’s not the lightbulbs, it’s not a generic tan, you’re painted orange, you moron," posted a third. That comment referred to Trump previously joking about his skin tone and saying that energy-saving light bulbs make him "always look orange".
The president hit back at the photos, claiming they had been photoshopped to make him look bad before going on to praise how his hair looked. "More Fake News. This was photoshopped, obviously, but the wind was strong and the hair looks good? Anything to demean!" he tweeted.
He may just have a point, with the Daily Mail reporting that the photos in question were taken on the White House South Lawn on Friday by mysterious photographer William Moon and that it had been edited significantly in comparison to other photographs taken by the White House pool.
Moon, a favorite amongst QAnon users, describes himself on his Twitter profile, called 'White House Photos,' as a "White House Correspondent, Journalist, and Photographer".
And while he is not employed in an official capacity by the White House or even a member of the White House News Photographers Association, he will have at least limited credentials for access to the White House, as proven by how he regularly posts original photos and video from open press events there.
Moon admitted he had altered the photo to the Mail, saying, "the picture was never photoshopped, but used the Apple smartphone’s photo app to adjust the color of the picture."
Experts said the photos had been through several steps of software editing to alter the color balance and contrast, steps that are generally considered inappropriate for news photos.