On November 17, 2016, Yaman Coskun, President of Yamanair Creative, the self-proclaimed “anti-ad agency” was sitting in the office in Georgetown, DC waiting for the traffic to clear when caught a Facebook Live video of President Obama’s Nov 16 press conference.
Shocked by the “disgusting” and “profane” comments that “can’t even be repeated in private”, Coskun decided to express his emotions and anger by writing a letter to the Obamas and have a friend who worked in the White House deliver it.
“I could not believe that the so-called Americans were online typing these comments about a guy and his family who happens to be occupying the White House and the oval office for the past eight years,” Coskun told DIVERGE. “So that’s what fueled the letter, and when I was done with all that, I decided that if you are going to battle the enemy, I owed myself the opportunity to use the exact same platform to publish that letter.
The letter titled “An Open Apology to President Obama and His Family” stated:
“I read commentary no American could read without horror. Commentary no American can, should shrug off and move on. It was another infuriating reminder of how we have become boundary-blind. We may not agree with your policies. We may not agree with your rhetoric. We may not like the way you wear your hair or the way you manage a foreign affair. We may even think you are the worst president in history. That does not entitle us to posting abusive comments in social media, or anywhere else for that matter, about the President of the United States or the First Family. Because, it has never really been about who is in the White House. It is about what the White House stands for.”
The letter went viral with over 300,000 views over 10,000 likes and over 4200 supportive comments in less than a month.
The letter concluded:
“So, on behalf of the civilized Americans, inclusive of Republicans, Democrats, Independents, blacks, whites, gays, the poor and the rich, I apologize for the ignorant and thank you for your service, for your elegance in handling conflict, for yours and your family’s sacrifice over the past eight years.
I am confident history will be kinder and more respectful to your legacy than today’s angry, misguided noise. May God bless America, now more than ever, and guide our new President as He has the previous 44.”
Although he received negative comments including statements about why he shouldn’t have posted on a platform like LinkedIn, most of the feedback he received was positive.
“I hold back my tears as I see how passionate these comments were,” Coskun explained. “My intention was never to be a hero for anyone and I would not even dare to call myself that but I think the courage to come out and say what I did, is what most people wanted to say but didn’t.”
The best part? After submitting the letter on the White House.gov platform, Coskun received a reply from President Obama. Although, he is pretty certain that this was probably not from the President himself, he will cherish that response and frame it to put up on a wall.
“And that’s the end of that story or the beginning, who knows,” he concluded.
