Obama comes under fire for 'latte salute'

A grab from the Instagram video posted by the White House. Credit: White House/Instagram

Barack Obama has been criticised for saluting US military staff while holding a coffee cup.

The video - posted on the White House's own Instagram page - showed the President arriving in New York ahead of the UN General Assembly and prompted anger on Twitter, with thousands of tweets using the hashtag #LatteSalute.

Among those displaying their distaste was Dan Bongino, a Former Secret Service Agent and Republican Congressional candidate who said: "Our Commander-in-chief should take the time to properly salute our heroes. They do it for them."

However, others were quick to point at that Obama was not the first US President to salute with his hands full.

George Bush was pictured saluting with his dog Barney during his presidency. Credit: Reuters