A spokeswoman for the first lady said “there was no hidden message” in Trump’s choice.
"It's a jacket," Stephanie Grisham told BuzzFeed News. "After today's important visit to Texas, I hope the media isn't going to choose to focus on her wardrobe."
FLOTUS spox confirms Mrs. Trump wore a jacket to visit border kids that reads: "I really don't care. Do you?" Spox says: "It's a jacket. There was no hidden message. After today's important visit to Texas, I hope the media isn't going to choose to focus on her wardrobe." pic.twitter.com/Bp4Z8n455G
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) June 21, 2018
President Donald Trump contradicted Grisham in a tweet posted Thursday night, writing that the coat “refers to the Fake News Media.”
“Melania has learned how dishonest they are, and she truly no longer cares!” the president wrote.
“I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” written on the back of Melania’s jacket, refers to the Fake News Media. Melania has learned how dishonest they are, and she truly no longer cares!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2018
Melania Trump wore a different, pale yellow jacket later Thursday, when her plane landed in McAllen for her visit to the Upbring New Hope Children's Center, The Associated Press reported. The center is holding 55 children.
Still, the first lady’s initial jacket choice sparked criticism on social media as users questioned the optics, considering the purpose of her trip.
Is @FLOTUS so unfamiliar with English that she doesn’t know what the back of her jacket today says? That her initiative #BeBest is grammatically incorrect? Is there NO ONE ON HER STAFF to help her with these things?
— Jane Lynch (@janemarielynch) June 21, 2018
bet Melania is really wishing she'd gone with the "IT IS IMPORTANT TO MAINTAIN THE APPEARANCE OF CARING" jacket instead
— Alexandra Petri (@petridishes) June 21, 2018
Indifference. Lack of interest or care.
— Dictionary.com (@Dictionarycom) June 21, 2018
E.g. The words on Melania Trump's jacket indicate indifference. https://t.co/H7chXjfEMJ https://t.co/4FszWWLPna
Melania Trump visited the Upbring New Hope Children's Center and a border patrol processing center. Grisham told CNN the trip was planned because the first lady wanted "to see what's real."
"She wanted to see as close to what she had been seeing on TV,” Grisham said. “She wants to see a realistic view of what's happening."
The visit came one day after her husband signed an executive order ending the Trump administration’s policy of separating migrant children from parents at the border.
Melania Trump previously said in a statement through Grisham that she “hates to see children separated from their families.”
"She believes we need to be a country that follows all laws, but also a country that governs with heart," Grisham said, according to CNN.
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