By Oyinlola Awonuga (The New Diplomat’s Entertainment, Fashion and Sports Desk)
Some United States musicians and actors decided to celebrate former President Barack Obama’ on 14 June. Curiously, that very same day happens to be when incumbent President Donald Trump was celebrating his 74th birthday
Interestingly, rather than sending birthday wishes and compliments to President Trump on his birthday, many of social media users declared the day #ObamaAppreciationDay in honour of Obama.
Among the musicians who participated in the hashtag were Mariah Carey, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent and Ciara. Mariah tweeted a photo of herself beaming alongside the former president and the first lady, Michelle.
Actress Amber Patrice Riley shared a mural of the former US leader. She wrote: “Happy Obama Day! I miss you @BarackObama! I miss your leadership and your dad jokes lol. Our country will never see a more swagged-out President!”
Rapper 50 Cent shared a photo of Obama while he was busy in a call in his office. 50 Cent captioned his Instagram post “Happy, wait today is Obama day
Actor Billy Baldwin also joined in and took a jibe at Trump. Billy tweeted:”Happy we’re gonna have a new president who’s gonna heal and unite the country again after all of the damage, insanity and chaos inflicted by Trump… Day!!!”
Obama was the 44th president of the United States and the first African American president, was elected over Senator John McCain of Arizona on November 4, 2008.
President Obama, a former senator from Illinois whose campaign’s slogan was “Change we can believe in” and “Yes we can,” was subsequently elected to a second term over Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.
Obama’s tenure quickly-elevated America’s image abroad, especially in Europe, where George W. Bush was deeply unpopular following the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
In 2009, shortly after Obama took office, residents in many countries expressed a sharp increase in the confidence and ability of the U.S. president to do the right thing in international affairs.
While Obama remained largely popular internationally throughout his tenure, there were exceptions, including in Russia and key Muslim nations. And many Americans themselves became more wary of international engagements.
