By Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) – The White House has installed new plaques beneath photos of former leaders on President Donald Trump’s “Presidential Walk of Fame” at the White House that sharply criticize his Democratic predecessors.
The plaques are a striking addition because both Republicans and Democrats have traditionally viewed the historic building as a symbol of national unity. Trump, however, has not shied from using the White House as a stage for his more combative style of politics and for rewriting history.
The plaque beneath President Joe Biden’s photo reads: “Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst President in American history.” It falsely accuses him of winning the “most corrupt election ever” and claims he made “unprecedented use of the autopen.”
Biden, whom Trump succeeded this year, is the only president not to have a portrait and is instead represented by a photo of an autopen, a mechanical device that replicates a signature with a pen or other writing implement.
Another plaque refers to “Barack Hussein Obama,” the first Black U.S. president, and describes the two-term president as “one of the most divisive political figures in American history.”
Many U.S. presidential historians view Trump as the most polarizing in U.S. history.
The plaque accompanying Bill Clinton’s photo reads: “In 2016, President Clinton’s wife, Hillary Clinton, lost the Presidency to President Donald J. Trump!”
The “Presidential Walk of Fame” is a recent addition during Trump’s second term, featuring portraits of past presidents displayed along corridors between the Oval Office and the South Lawn.
Even former President George W. Bush, a fellow Republican but not a Trump supporter, does not escape criticism. His plaque says Bush started wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, “both of which should not have happened.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the plaques were an “eloquent” description of each president’s legacy.
“As a student of history, many were written directly by the President himself,” she said in a statement.
The changes are part of broader changes to White House decor under Trump, including an expanded use of gold-colored accents and gilded fixtures reminiscent of Trump Tower in New York and the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington; Editing by Ross Colvin and Daniel Wallis)
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