for putting them through this process. i mean, just to get this job, they had to come to the white house, to the oval office and get grilled by the president and first lady. i m sorry. i m so sorry. so, it wasn t lost on us, how unnerving this experience was for each and every one of them. when amy came in and it was her turn, i have to admit, i was intrigued. i was intrigued before she walked into the room. i had seen her work and i was blown away by the boldness of her colors and uniqueness of her subject matter. i was wondering, who is this woman? and she s so cute, too. then, she walked in and she was fly and poised and i just wanted to stare at her for a minute. she had this lightness and freshness of personality. she was hip and cool, in that
all right. that is the scene at the national portrait gallery at the smithsonian museum in washington. former president, barack obama, you just heard from there taking the podium his name is kahindai whiley. this is a he, the artist that painted the official portrait of former president barack obama. you saw that unveil a few minutes ago. that portrait along with the one of former first lady, michelle obama. both portraits will hang at the national portrait gallery in washington, d.c. that is the only collection of every official presidential portrait that exists outside of the white house. so, that is playing out right there and as we continue to keep an eye, i ll bring my panel back in here. caitlin, we heard from the former president. what did you think? it was not a political moment for the president talking about
he s been very active in the redistricting fight. that s going to be very important to democrats moving forward. when ever the president kind of re-emerges on the stage, i think a lot of people pay attention because there is a lot of intrigue about what his involvement is going to be, especially among democrats. we are searching for a leader of the party to gin up the base. donald trump has been that for them, which has been really interesting. trump, you know, energizing the democratic base in opposition. so, how this former president can utilize that, given the criticism in the way the party hemorrhaged during his tenure is interesting. it s interesting because a lot of democrats would love to have barack obama on the campaign trail for them this fall and the question of the former president and the balance to strike there. it s been a long time since we have had a former president in a good position to involve himself in politics. george w. bush left unpopular.
obviously. each subject there, the president, the former president and first lady wanted to be comfortable with the artist that was chosen. the artist, by the way, who drew the picture, the portrait of barack obama, her name is kahinda whiley. this is where you see a former president emerge in public view. from time-to-time, that will happen, then the conversation leads to the politics of the moment. the contrast between the former occupant of the oval office and the current occupant. we were talking ability the latest scandal in the white house, the handling of rob porter and now you see almost on cue, the former president emerges. there s particular interest in this former president because we are heading into the midterms. there s a lot of question about how the president is going to be president active on the campaign trail.
and being a part of my vision. i paint american people. and i tell american stories through the paintings i create. again, that is the scene at the national portrait gallery, one of the smithsonian museums in washington. you heard from the former first lady, michelle obama. right now at the podium is the artist, amy cheryl. she painted the portrait that will hang in the national portrait gallery of michelle obama. there it is on the screen. that was just unveiled in the last ten or 15 minutes. a very big day at the portrait gallery as these things go. this is the only place at the white house where you can find a complete collection of every president, every first lady. today, the obama s portraits are being unveiled. you can see the portrait of michelle obama. that is the artist speaking about that. we are expecting to see and hear, as well, from barack obama, the former president. his portrait, yet to be