First Lady Melania Trump has started a new side hustle and just launched a collection of Christmas ornaments. This random side quest comes despite her previously recorded disdain for holiday decorations, leaving many wondering about the motivation behind this festive venture.
The collection, featuring ornaments named ‘USA Star,’ ‘Vote Liberty,’ ‘Let It Snow,’ and ‘Love & Freedom’, ranges in price from $75 to $90. Melania promotes these pieces as capturing “the magic of the holiday season” and inspiring “cherished memories.” The reception has been less than warm, with social media users quick to point out the apparent contradiction between this business venture and her past comments.
In 2018, Melania’s former aide Stephanie Winston Wolkoff released an audio recording that caught the former First Lady expressing her frustration with Christmas decorations.
Why does everyone everyone hate Melania Trump’s Christmas ornaments?
This stark contrast between her private sentiments and public actions has not gone unnoticed by critics. Adding fuel to the fire, Melania’s White House Christmas decorations during her tenure as First Lady were often met with criticism. One year featured 40 blood-red trees, dubbed “murder trees” by some, while another showcased Balsam fir trees dripping with icicles. These choices were deemed by many as missing the essential Christmas joy and even labeled “un-American”, though her office defended the red trees as symbolizing valor and bravery.
What’s particularly intriguing about this new ornament collection is the absence of traditional Christmas imagery. There are no crosses or other religious symbols, and even the word “Christmas” itself is conspicuously missing from the designs. One ornament, named “Vote Liberty”, seems to equate American patriotism with the holiday season, a curious choice that may raise questions about the intended focus of the collection.
This omission of religious imagery is especially ironic given that one of the rallying cries of Trump supporters has been the idea that saying “Merry Christmas” is under threat. The fact that Melania’s ornaments make explicit Christmas references adds an unexpected discussion point to this ongoing cultural debate.
This isn’t the first of Melania’s business ventures that’s gotten attention. While Donald Trump has been promoting his wife’s memoir on social media, claiming it’s “#1 in the U.S.A.,” fact-checking reveals a different story. Interestingly, Hillary Clinton’s new book, “Something Lost, Something Gained”, is outperforming Melania’s on several bestseller lists.
It makes you wonder whether Melania would have made the cut if she was on The Apprentice, considering how tough her husband’s standards were. I guess giving business advice to Melania might be at the bottom of his priority list right now. He might be preoccupied doing damage control for the new rumors about him romancing far-right political activist, Laura Loomer.
We’re in tense times and it’s harder than ever to persuade the public opinions. The cheap tricks to butter up the public that used to be foolproof seem to be falling short and are likely to ignite the very fires they meant to douse.
Even something as seemingly innocuous as Christmas decorations can become a lightning rod for political discourse in today’s charged climate. The old tools of flattery, pandering, and empty promises hang uselessly in the toolbox of public manipulation, their efficacy wilting under the scrutinizing gaze of increasingly savvy citizens.
Published: Sep 27, 2024 05:14 am