The White House said Monday that there would not be a ban on selfies with President Obama after a recent cellphone photo was used for advertising purposes.
On Sunday, senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer said of the picture with Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz that “perhaps, maybe, this will be the end of all selfies.”
{mosads}But White House press secretary Jay Carney said there was “no discussion of a ban” at the White House.
Carney said Pfeiffer was suggesting “humorously” that the incident would lead to the end of impromptu self-photography, but that his comment wasn’t White House-specific. He briefly joked that the administration would “use our executive authority” to impose a nationwide ban.
Ortiz snapped the image with Obama during a championship celebration for the Red Sox at the White House. It was later revealed that Ortiz had an agreement with Samsung to promote the company’s phones, and Samsung’s social media accounts trumpeted the picture.
Carney said the White House counsel had been in contact with Samsung and that the president didn’t know about the marketing campaign.
“The president obviously didn’t know there was a Samsung play here, if you will,” Carney said.