Barack Obama's official photographer Pete Souza ridicules Kellyanne Conway's spying microwave remarks
Post comes after Donald Trump accused former President of wiretapping his office
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.While Barack Obama has remained largely silent since Donald Trump took office, his official photographer is taking aim at the new administration.
Pete Souza took to Instagram to ridicule the Republican leader’s senior aide Kellyanne Conway after she suggested Mr Obama could have monitored his successor through a microwave.
The photographer posted a picture of the former president holding a camera inside a microwave, accompanied by the caption: “Someone has been photoshopping one of my photos. For the record, it wasn't me.”
Ms Conway made the claims in response to Mr Trump’s explosive and entirely unsubstantiated allegations that Mr Obama wiretapped his office.
“What I can say is there are many ways to surveil each other,” she said in a USA Today interview.
“You can surveil someone through their phones, certainly through their television sets — any number of different ways.”
She went on to claim surveillance could take place with "microwaves that turn into cameras," adding, “We know this is a fact of modern life.”
However, the White House has since claimed Mr Trump did not believe he had been wiretapped “personally” – even as it called on Congress to press ahead with a probe into the allegation.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer insisted Mr Trump still believed the allegation he had made. Yet he said the President had used the word “wiretap” to more broadly refer to surveillance or other activities.
“He does not think Obama went out there and wiretapped him personally,” he said. “There are are a whole host of techniques to or surveil someone,” he said.
Mr Obama denied through a spokesman he ever ordered such actions. The White House, that has been unable to substantiate the claims, said Mr Trump had based his accusation on media reports, including the right-wing Breitbart News.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments