U.S. President Barack Obama created a minor stir after offering a salute Tuesday with a coffee cup in his hand to a Marine standing guard.
The White House posted the brief video on its Instagram account showing Obama’s arrival in New York for the U.N. General Assembly. As the president stepped off the presidential helicopter, Marine One, he made the salute to a Marine standing guard.
Obama’s opponents were quick to criticize the president for the informal salute, also dubbed the #LatteSalute or #SemperLatte on Twitter.
The National Republican Congressional Committee tweeted “Wait – did President Obama just salute the Marines with a LATTE in his hand?!”
“As the wife of a U.S. Marine, I find this disgraceful. Show some respect for those who risk their lives to protect ours, or at least enough respect not to post this for everyone to see. Ridiculous!” one user wrote on the White House Instagram account.
And while some were quick to pounce on Obama’s actions others on social media saw it as unnecessary nitpicking.
“For this one video there are thousands of pics of him saluting our military and even shaking their hands,” another user wrote. “Get a grip people.”
The Daily Caller pointed to a U.S Navy manual which says in certain situations the salute is not appropriate.
The salute “is the most important of all military courtesies,” according to the manual. “In general, do not salute when… carrying articles with both hands or being otherwise so occupied as to make saluting impractical.”
However, Obama isn’t the first president to make this faux pas. President George W. Bush saluted the Marines while holding his dog Barney as he exited Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base in 2001.
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