Biden pays homage to Obama by wearing trademark tan suit on his birthday week

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Joe Biden appeared to pay tribute to Barack Obama by wearing a trademark tan suit ahead of his birthday celebrations this weekend.

Mr Obama, who turned 60 on Wednesday, once wore a tan suit during a White House briefing on ISIS in 2014 and set the internet alight.

The episode, which eventually became known as “The Obama tan suit controversy”, went on for days with Twitter critics and political commentators both praising and criticising the choice in summer fashion.

Following suit on Friday, Mr Biden appeared to pay tribute to his former boss with a tan suit of his own, and the reaction was no less impressive.

“I’m here in the East Room, I’m listening to the president. The subjects are serious – the economy, vaccinations, jobs – but it’s hard to focus, since I was so distracted by his TAN SUIT,” wrote the BBC’s White House correspondent, Tara McKelvey.

“Tan suit omg,” added Voice of America’s Patsy Wildakuswara. “THIS IS THE PLAN”, Oliver Willis, of The American Independent, added.

Dozens tweeted about Mr Biden “trolling” Republicans with his outfit, after Mr Obama faced accusations from the right of lacking “seriousness”, and of being “un-presidential” in 2014.

Peter King, a former House Republican, said Mr Obama “looked like he was on his way to a party at the Hamptons” and that there was “no way I don’t think any of us can excuse what the president did”.

Headlines at the time included “The audacity of taupe” and “Yes we Tan!”, which was a play on Mr Obama’s 2008 campaign slogan “Yes we can!”.

Donald Trump did not wear a tan suit during his term in office but broke from many other conventions, including not severing ties to his own businesses, failing to release his tax returns, and refusing to accept the transfer of power after an election defeat.