No, Kellyanne Conway, it is never OK to put your shoes on the Oval Office couch

Impact

On Monday, leaders of historically black colleges and universities gathered at the White House. In pictures captured from the event, they stood around the Oval Office desk, with President Donald Trump smiling broadly in the middle of it all, looking like a kid on his first day of school. 

But it's not Trump, for once, or any of these leaders that people can't seem to stop talking about. 

It's Kellyanne Conway, sitting with her legs tucked under her, taking on a wide stance, like you would if you were to sit in the middle of a child's playroom or around a campfire. 

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/Getty Images
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/Getty Images

Does she have on shoes? 

Pool/Getty Images

Indeed, she does. They appear to be nude high heels. (See that heel sticking into the cushion of the couch?)

Initially, it really just looks bizarre. A woman so informally sitting — with shoes on — on the Oval Office couch, while dozens of well-dressed people stand looking on. 

You can almost tell by the faces of the HBCU members that something is just ... off.  

Pool/Getty Images

What is that woman, who has a very important position in the Trump White House, doing on that couch, sitting like that? We know she wants to get a good picture, but girl, come on. 

On Twitter, an all-out debate has ensued. To many, her stance is disrespectful. 

Considering that Trump is meeting with black men and women leaders here, many think that Conway would absolutely never strike the same pose in front of white leaders. 

To others, it's just plain bizarre — and gross. 

Then of course, there are the many people who have already come to her defense, with reasoning that Conway is just continuing the tried-and-true legacy of White House staffers putting their feet up on furniture. 

Here is Barack Obama with his shoes up on his desk in 2013. 

Pete Souza/The White House

And did that spark outrage when the photo surfaced? Yes, it did. As one headline read: "Obama's feet on Oval Office desk sends shockwaves around the world." 

Hear that? Shockwaves. Though, it is kinda weird that it did because hey, look at George W. Bush leaning with his feet up on his Oval Office desk too back in 2001. 

Tina Hager/White House/Getty Images

And here's Gerald Ford striking the pose in 1974. 

David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images

But here's the thing: A couch is not a desk. A desk is not a couch. People sit on a couch, maybe wipe their hands all over it. The same is not to be said of a desk. 

If we want to get technical here, also see that the bottoms of the shoes, which are surely covered with germs, of Bush, Obama and Ford are not touching the desk. 

But look at Conway. The bottoms of her shoes are. 

Not putting your shoes on the couch is such a universal rule that in 2015, results of a study on the most common household rules in the U.K. were released and guess what was number one — putting your shoes on the couch

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

At this point, we're honestly relieved that this is what people are outraged over at the moment. But my, how we hope it doesn't happen again.