In an appearance on Good Morning America to promote her new book, “Becoming,” Michelle Obama said that she offered to be a source of advice for Melania Trump in the same way that Laura Bush offered the same at the beginning of President Obama’s terms to Michelle. Melania’s spokesperson lashed out in anger over the remark.
Melania Trump’s spokeswoman tells me: "Mrs. Trump is a strong and independent woman who has been navigating her role as First Lady in her own way. When she needs advice on any issue, she seeks it from her professional team within the White House.” https://t.co/iEaiEh1pnb
— Caitlin Yilek (@hausofcait) November 12, 2018
Stephanie Grisham, Melania’s spokeswoman, offered an angry response to the former first lady’s remarks.
‘Mrs. Trump is a strong and independent woman who has been navigating her role as First Lady in her own way. When she needs advice on any issue, she seeks it from her professional team within the White House.’
Her professional team within the White House hasn’t offered great advice so far. Perhaps one of them should have advised Melania not to wear a jacket that read “I Really Don’t Care, Do You?’ to visit migrant, detained children. Not one of them let her know that the safari hat she wore in Africa was a common symbol of the colonists who so abused and disenfranchised indigenous African citizens, and they definitely should have advised her not to make tone deaf statements about being the “most bullied person in the world.”
.@MichelleObama tells @RobinRoberts @FLOTUS Melania Trump has never reached out for advice. #MichelleObama #Michellehttps://t.co/GG1GiLxNVX pic.twitter.com/FLC42eG1Oj
— Good Morning America (@GMA) November 12, 2018
‘I know that Laura Bush reached out to you and said, ‘If you need any help, I’m a phone call away…You wrote about how and have talked about how you extended that same courtesy to Melania Trump. Has she reached out to you and asked for any help?’
Obama said that she had not.
Michelle probably could have given her some advice on where to focus her #BeBest campaign. https://t.co/9Vd5Au3rag
— Democratic Coalition (@TheDemCoalition) November 12, 2018
Obama was also asked if she could relate to Melania’s statements about being bullied. After all, Michelle Obama’s first lady initiative to help children get healthier and active was criticized on right-wing media, she endured racial epithets lobbed at her and her children, and was constantly criticized for her clothing choices, tall body, broad shoulders, and weight.
However, she said that she could not relate and would have never dreamed of making such a statement considering what she saw of the sacrifices of others, especially those in the military.
‘I can’t look around at what’s going on and view myself as — I wrote about the fact that, how I learned not to sort of take myself so seriously in this role was when I would meet military families, and spend time on bases, and I would see the sacrifice that these families would make and the hardships that they would bare because they would have a loved one serving and dying and putting their life at risk. I admired them and it made me feel like, ‘let me not complain out loud about anything that is happening to me.’
Melania Trump Spox Responds to Michelle Obama: First Lady Gets Her Advice From White House https://t.co/Funchho0QR pic.twitter.com/Zfcdm2JNOA
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) November 12, 2018
Featured image via Flickr by Ospedale Bambino Gesù under a Creative Commons license
