Melania Trump, First Lady and America’s own Marie Antoinette, has done it again. Trump has been widely criticized for tweeting about the new tennis pavilion she is building beside the White House. The First Lady appears in a hard hat, overlooking blueprints for the court.
I am excited to share the progress of the Tennis Pavillion at @WhiteHouse. Thank you to the talented team for their hard work and dedication. pic.twitter.com/Wzown2ho26
— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) March 5, 2020
The tweet was quickly mocked for Melania’s apparent indifference to the global coronavirus outbreak, but honestly what did we expect from the same woman who wore the infamous “I really don’t care, do u?” jacket to visit children in detention centers.
Despite her halfhearted demands that we “be best”, Melania continues to be an avatar for apathy in the White House. She is the human embodiment of phoning it in. In the aftermath of Tennessee’s tornadoes, the First Lady has said nothing. Like everyone else in the Trump administration, she is woefully out of touch with her constituents.
People were quick to call her out on social media for her indifference:
Millions of Americans seek assurance that this administration is doing all that it can to stem spread of the coronavirus, but the First Lady wants us to know she’s “excited” about her new tennis court. People are scared, @FLOTUS. Flaunting a lack of empathy inflicts further harm. https://t.co/saU3okHTqm
— Connie Schultz (@ConnieSchultz) March 6, 2020
I don’t understand why people are attacking Melania. I think it’s really nice of her to be building Joe Biden some new tennis courts.
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) March 7, 2020
29 people were killed by a tornado in Tennessee, the world is shuddering as a pandemic expands and what is a tennis pavilion?
— Mia Farrow (@MiaFarrow) March 5, 2020
This is the real reason they replaced the White House basketball court with Melania's "tennis pavilion". pic.twitter.com/ML2FqOE7Av
— Travon Free (@Travon) March 8, 2020
I wish people would put the Coronavirus aside for a second and show Melania Trump a little compassion for her new tennis courts.
— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) March 7, 2020
A deadly virus is working its way across America without adequate testing and Trump spent the weekend playing golf and dining with a dictator at his decadent mansion. And his wife broke ground on a “tennis pavilion.”
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) March 8, 2020
I know they say it’s always the little things that end up breaking you, but Melania building a Tennis Pavilion at the White House during a global pandemic has me in such hysterics I may need to be sedated https://t.co/rzLNaV1ckR
— Matt Brennan (@thefilmgoer) March 6, 2020
As Melania builds a tennis pavilion during a pandemic, we should all take a moment and remind ourselves of the unending shit Michelle Obama took for building a WH garden and teaching kids how to grow their own veggies. https://t.co/MSfcgrA5nJ
— Josh Moon (@Josh_Moon) March 7, 2020
Somehow I don't think kids in cages have a use for a tennis pavilion.
— Fini de Jouer (@DunPlayin) March 5, 2020
For those who aren't adept with dogwhistles:
Trump can barely walk anymore and the rest of the family doesn't play tennis. This is ONLY so they can post photos of the *basketball court* Obama had installed being demolished to build it. (also in proximity to Michelle's garden) https://t.co/qjo5GOyyEh
— Bob Chipman (@the_moviebob) March 5, 2020
so they've built… half a wall. that's pretty on-brand. https://t.co/Tt1j4rVLpo
— Nicky Woolf (@NickyWoolf) March 5, 2020
It is not the fact that tennis courts are being built at WH that is at issue (by all means, build them), it is the ignorance surrounding the optics of voluntarily promoting these private benefits during the ongoing public health & financial crisis.
Seriously, what don't you get? https://t.co/DVvVAU3pZA
— Mark S. Zaid (@MarkSZaidEsq) March 5, 2020
Melania issued a rare response after getting roasted on social media, tweeting:
I encourage everyone who chooses to be negative & question my work at the @WhiteHouse to take time and contribute something good & productive in their own communities. #BeBest https://t.co/03sx0rq2Nx
— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) March 7, 2020
Melania equating overseeing a private tennis court with “hard work” really set people off. But that’s what happens when you’re preternaturally out of touch with the people.
I like that Melania called it her "work." She's building a tennis pavilion out behind the presidential mansion. Marie Antoinette built a pretend dairy farm out behind Versailles, where she could dress up in outfits and milk the cows. I bet she called that her "work" too.
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) March 8, 2020
Unbelievable. In the midst of what looks to be a global pandemic that became a bigger threat to human lives due to her husband’s actions, Melania Trump is once again feeling sorry for…
Herself. https://t.co/GWB5gscpXF
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 7, 2020
Melania’s tennis pavilion is one of those quintessentially Trumpian inventions: self-aggrandizing, tone deaf, and completely out of touch with America. It’s hard to think of a more apt metaphor for the Trumps than this one. Here’s hoping a different first family enjoys that court in 2021.
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