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Barack Obama continues to enjoy his New York City break as he was seen leaving his five-star hotel one day after he was blasted on social media for his comments about the Texas school shooting.
Obama was pictured smiling and waving at bystanders as he exited The Pierre Hotel on Thursday, one day after he was slammed on Twitter for comparing the Texas massacre to the two-year anniversary of George Floyd‘s murder.
He was escorted by Secret Service out of his Upper East Side accommodations, which houses a presidential suite costing $20,000 per night. The former president is likely rooming in the top tier suite, however DailyMail.com was unable to confirm the exact details of his stay.
Thursday marks the second day of Obama’s Manhattan adventure, which on Wednesday included a trip to a Broadway show and a three-hour dinner at a five-star Italian restaurant. It is unclear what his Thursday agenda entailed.
His outing also comes as he is taking the heat for sharing a ‘tone deaf’ tweet on Wednesday remembering Floyd and calling for police reform, just one day after Salvador Ramos murdered 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
Wednesday was also two years to the day after Floyd was killed by arresting Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin who knelt on his neck until he passed out.
‘As we grieve the children of Uvalde today, we should take time to recognize that two years have passed since the murder of George Floyd under the knee of a police officer,’ wrote, who was seen enjoying a night out in New York City later that evening. ‘His killing stays with us all to this day, especially those who loved him.’
The message was quickly slammed online by many social media users who were angry that Obama would compare the two unconnected events.
Barack Obama was spotted leaving The Pierre Hotel in Manhattan’s Upper East Side on Thursday
Obama was pictured smiling and waving at bystanders as he left the hotel on Thursday
The former president is seen entering a black car outside of his five-star NYC accommodations on Thursday
”It sucks those kids died, but remember George Floyd? He’s who I’m still thinking about.’ — Barack Obama,’ Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon tweeted.
‘What in the world does the former have to do with the latter?’ Ben Shapiro asked.
Redstate editor Kira Davis added that: ‘Not a single grieving parent today gives a rip about what happened to Floyd or anyone right now.
‘For crying out loud. This is not the time to be advertising for your favorite activist group. How utterly vile.’
Obama has been a proponent of police reform for many years. He tried to push for police reform through a task force he formed in 2014, nearly six years before Floyd’s death.
One of that task force’s recommendations was an expansion of an already existing database of officers who had been decertified.
Barack Obama is under fire over his ‘tone deaf’ tweet comparing the two-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder to the massacre at an Uvalde elementary school
”It sucks those kids died, but remember George Floyd? He’s who I’m still thinking about.’ — Barack Obama,’ Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon tweeted
‘What in the world does the former have to do with the latter?’ Ben Shapiro asked
Obama’s Thursday adventure in NYC and his arguably distasteful tweet come as President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday to improve accountability in policing.
When announcing the measure, Biden, who served as Obama’s second-in-command, and Vice President Kamala Harris also addressed the Texas shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers.
Biden and Harris gave remarks that tried to comfort those affected by the shooting as well those who have suffered from police brutality, promising them that change could come eventually despite the partisan divides on Capitol Hill.
‘I know progress can be slow and frustrating,’ Biden said. ‘Today we’re acting. We’re showing that speaking out matters. Being engaged matters. That the work of our time, healing the soul of this nation, is ongoing and unfinished and requires all of us never to give up.’
Floyd’s family was in the audience at the White House as the president declared that ‘what we do in their memory matters.’ Relatives of Breonna Taylor were also in the East Room for the signing. Taylor was killed during a fast-entry police raid of her home in Louisville, Kentucky.
Biden has been walking a tight rope on the issue of police reform. Progressives, in the wake of Floyd’s death and the nation-wide protests that sparked up around it, wanted to go stronger, including a tightened use-of-force option, which police chiefs objected to. It was not included in the final version Biden signed Wednesday.
Biden also has been dealing with criticism from Republicans who have falsely accused him of defunding the police.
The order requires federal agencies to update their use-of-force policy, restrict the flow of surplus military equipment to police departments and restrict federal funding to police departments that did not ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants. It directs all federal agencies to create a national registry to track officers who were fired for bad conduct.
Obama is spotted outside The Pierre Hotel in Manhattan on Thursday. He is currently staying in the hotel which has a presidential suite costing $20,000 per night
Obama and his security detail are seen looking at something to the left in a picture taken Thursday outside The Pierre Hotel
Obama waves as he enters a car in Manhattan on Thursday
Obama was also spotted leaving his Manhattan hotel Wednesday donning a smart all-black ensemble and a friendly smile as he ventured for his night of fun.
The Democrat made his first stop at New World Stages theatre on W. 49th Street, where he visited for around an hour. The playhouse hosts multiple shows, but it is currently home to Americano, a musical about dreamers which would likely appeal most to the liberal president.
He was then escorted by his Secret Service detail and NYPD to Portale, an Italian restaurant in Chelsea, where he dined in a private room on the establishment’s upper level with several guests.
He stayed at the restaurant, where a meal will easily cost $50 to $100 per person without booze, for three hours before returning to his hotel, a DailyMail.com photographer recalled.
While we don’t know specifically who he dined with on Wednesday, one can assume he was deep in conversation with his guests due to the length of their stay at Portale.
It’s also unclear if his dinning engagement was social or business related. The former president was seen carrying a tablet and several a handful of documents throughout the evening.
Social media users slammed Obama’s remarks about the shooting and George Floyd’s death
Obama’s fun filled NYC excursions came just days after he called on legislators to take action and reform gun control in wake of the Robb Elementary School shooting.
The 44th president, taking to Twitter after the shooting, said that both he and former First Lady Michelle Obama ‘grieve with the families in Uvalde who are experiencing pain no one should have to bear.’
‘Across the country, parents are putting their children to bed, reading stories, singing lullabies— and in the back of their minds, they’re worried about what might happen tomorrow after they drop their kids off at school, or take them to a grocery store or any other public space,’ he penned.
He then recalled the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, which occurred while he was in office.
Obama said: ‘Nearly ten years after Sandy Hook — and ten days after Buffalo — our country is paralyzed, not by fear, but by a gun lobby and a political party that have shown no willingness to act in any way that might help prevent these tragedies.’
The statement concluded: ‘It’s long past time for action, any kind of action. And it’s another tragedy—a quieter but no less tragic one—for families to wait another day. May God bless the memory of the victims, and in the words of Scripture, heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds.’
Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, issued a statement about the Texas elementary school massacre on Tuesday
Obama is seen smiling and apparently engaged in conversation with members of his security detail in NYC on Wednesday. He is pictured outside New World Stages theatre
He then went to Portale, an Italian restaurant in Chelsea, where he dined Wednesday night in a private room on the establishment’s upper level with several guests
Obama is seen apparently engaging in conversation with a woman dressed in pink on Wednesday
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