Iconic buildings around the world were lit up this weekend in the colors of the French tricolor: blue, white, and red, in honor of the terrorist attacks on Paris.
One building that was curiously not lit up for the occasion? The White House.
Among those buildings lit up, worldwide, were the Sydney Opera House in Australia, the Brandenburg Gate in Germany, the Burj al-Arab in Dubai, the Old City Wall in Jerusalem, and even the Empire State Building in New York.
But even though Lafayette Park, the public square directly in front of the White House, hosted a large candlelight vigil on Saturday night for the victims of the Paris attacks, the executive mansion continued to stay lit up in its normal, white lighting.
Adding to the controversy is the fact that the White House has lit up for other causes—most notably in June, when the Supreme Court legalized nationwide gay marriage when they announced their decision in the Obergefell v. Hodges case.
Gay marriage was important enough for the Obamas to light up their house in solidarity, but the deaths of 121 people in the capital of America’s oldest ally did not appear to be.
Obama and the Left have continued to attract controversy for what many have seen as a lackluster response to the attacks that have shaken the entire world.
Obama had, in a moment of truly unfortunate timing less than 24 hours before the attacks, claimed that ISIS was “contained.” He later admitted that the Paris attacks were a “setback.”
Meanwhile, during Saturday night’s Democratic debate—which was hastily reorganized to include questions about terrorism and foreign affairs—attracted outrage when none of the candidates could bring themselves to admit the United States was at war with radical Islamic terrorists, or even utter the words “radical Islam.”
Despite the Democrats’ flippant response to the attacks, it’s clear that the very nature of the 2016 race has changed in an instant—and it could doom their chances moving forward.
