Kim Kardashian, the 37-year-old reality TV and pop culture icon, made an official visit to the White House on Wednesday, seeking a presidential pardon for a 62-year-old Alabama woman who is currently serving a life sentence behind bars with no chance of parole for a first-time drug conviction. But while the important topic of prison reform was reportedly also on the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star’s agenda for her meeting with the former reality TV icon Donald Trump, the most lasting impression of the meeting came from an awkward photo posted by Trump on his Twitter account.
The photo, seen below on this page, showed a broadly grinning Trump seated behind his Oval Office desk, with an awkward and expressionless Kardashian standing rigidly behind him to his right.
“Great meeting with @KimKardashian today,” Trump tweeted, “talked about prison reform and sentencing.”
Perhaps Kardashian’s awkwardness stemmed from repeated comments made by Trump about her physical appearance, comments which described her figure and personality in unflattering terms.
In 2013, in an interview with radio host Howard Stern, Trump sneered at Kardashian’s appearance, saying, “Does she have a good body? No. Does she have a fat a**? Absolutely.”
Great meeting with @KimKardashian today, talked about prison reform and sentencing. pic.twitter.com/uOy4UJ41JF
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2018
At a point when Kardashian was pregnant with her first child in 2013, Trump felt moved to comment on her appearance again, opining, “She’s gotten a little bit large. I would say this, I don’t think you should dress like you weigh 120 pounds.” And in another interview a year later, Trump said that Kardashian had “a bad body.”
Kardashian and Trump first met in 2010, when she appeared on Trump’s reality show The Apprentice to plug a line of colognes that Trump had founded with TV pundit Piers Morgan.
But while Trump appeared delighted to be meeting Kardashian again, supposedly with a policy agenda of some gravitas, Twitter users could not get past the awkward photo of the pair, posted by Trump later that afternoon, with some wondering if the meeting was overly revealing of the feelings Kardashian and Trump held for each other — or if the story of the sit-down would make a good Hollywood movie pitch.
The face of every woman after sex with Trump vs. Trump’s face after sex pic.twitter.com/Td2XFh8Wf9
— Desi (@DesiJed) May 30, 2018
What fresh hell are we living in?!??
— ?ealfarmacist (@real_farmacist) May 30, 2018
Great, now if you just take that Healthcare meeting with Paris Hilton we can finally this whole Obamacare thing straightened out. #liegate
— Bobby Entzminger (@BREntzminger) May 30, 2018
Serious question: what are the chances Trump hit on Kim Kardashian today in the oval office?
— Secular Talk? (@KyleKulinski) May 30, 2018
Gurl. You know he asked for some free @kkwbeauty bronzer samples. pic.twitter.com/m6ROGGDCru
— Kelly Mantle (@thekellymantle) May 30, 2018
Of course, some Twitter commentators appreciated Kardashian’s effort in attempting to promote prison reform with Trump, an item that has not been high on Trump’s priority list. In fact, Trump has advocated for harsher punishments for drug offenders.
I know this is easy to make fun of but i think @KimKardashian deserves credit here. She didn’t go to promote her brand (like Ivanka Trump in China).
She went to discuss ending mass incarceration for non-violent drug offenders. It’s commendable that she used her access for this. https://t.co/LzmhRrctbk
— Mikel Jollett (@Mikel_Jollett) May 30, 2018
1. Good for Kim Kardashian for using her fame to push this issue.
2. Imagine your reaction to this photograph three years ago. https://t.co/SAHwXSEFlb
— Willie Geist (@WillieGeist) May 30, 2018
Still other Twitter pundits could not help but wonder if Trump, who in the infamous Access Hollywood tape bragged about grabbing women by their private parts without their consent, had attempted to make a sexual advance on the wife of rapper Kanye West, who earlier this year announced his admiration for Trump.
Did u grab her girl parts … you know … just cause ya can and all …
— cowboyunderthestars? (@KyHoopFan) May 31, 2018
But for some, the meeting was simply surreal.
For heaven’s sake, just make it all stop. https://t.co/1bxkF1As3H
— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) May 30, 2018
Kardashian was seeking a pardon for Alice Marie Johnson, who was convicted of drug conspiracy in 1997. Trump has not commented on whether he plans to grant Johnson a pardon.