People Think Kellyanne Conway's Pose In Oval Office Pic Is 'Disrespectful'

The Donald Trump administration has an optics problem. Mainly, it's that few days go by without one photo from the White House (or Mar-a-Lago) sending the internet into an uproar.

This time around, that photo is of Kellyanne Conway, Trump's controversial counselor.

Conway was present as the president met with leaders of historically black colleges and universities on Monday.

And she made her presence known by kneeling with her shoes on the Oval Office couch like she's just chillin' at home watching Netflix while keeping an eye on the popcorn in the microwave she's preparing.

While everyone else in the room stands, Conway kneels, at times looking at her phone.

This put Twitter in an uproar as people called her lackadaisical pose disrespectful of both the office and its HBCU guests.

Pictures from this meeting were likely to be heavily scrutinized as the Trump administration has not exactly been particularly welcoming to black people (or Jewish people or Muslim and Arab people or women, etc.).

So Conway's casual kneel set off a stirring of emotions, many of which were related to Trump's lack of understanding or respect for black Americans.

And then, of course, jokes about Conway were made.

Much respect to the victims of the Bowling Green Massacre.

And there were jokes about the Trump administration's lack of familiarity with black people.

There were also, of course, some super misogynistic "jokes" about Conway being on her knees, which I'm not going to promote here! Sexism being bad is bipartisan!

Likewise, there were references to Bill Clinton with Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office, which, again, I'm not going to promote here.

(Although, I will note it was kind of hilarious to see conservative tweeters say no one freaked out about Clinton and Lewinsky in the Oval Office as if a full impeachment trial never happened.)

There were also references to Barack Obama's casual manner in the Oval Office.

Which, again, is kind of hilarious because: A. There's a difference between the president and a counselor, B. There's a difference between children and an adult counselor, and C. Conservatives did freak out over Obama chilling in the Oval Office.

Ultimately, we don't know the context of Conway's couch pose in the White House.

For all we know, someone had asked her to snap a picture and that just happened to be the best place from which to get a shot.

But it is kind of strange to see a grown-ass woman kneeling like that in what's supposed to be a professional setting.

Meanwhile, another Trump official caused an uproar with words about HBCUs.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos set off Twitter with her ignorant statement about HBCUs.

She called them "real pioneers when it comes to school choice," which ignores the whole history of HBCUs existing because of a lack of choice for black students.

The Trump administration might want to think a little harder when attempting to work with HBCUs. Or, you know, diversify itself so fewer issues like this arise.

Citations: Betsy DeVos statement on black colleges sparks uproar (ABC News), Kellyanne Conway Was Photographed Kneeling On The Oval Office Couch And People Flipped Out (BuzzFeed)