Melania Trump’s Mother’s Day op-ed, published in The Washington Post, has been torn to shreds by some readers with the first lady being described as “tone deaf” and a “disgrace.”
The piece, published Friday, sees the first lady referred to mothers as “the foundation” of American democracy and the “first teachers of empathy, aspiration and discipline.”
It also called for the restoration of “the honor of motherhood after years in which feminism often placed career above family, with consequences to our nation.”
The response to the opinion piece was met with swift backlash, with many readers expressing skepticism over its authenticity and the first lady’s credibility to speak on family values.
“This woman has done NOTHING of substance for women, mothers, children or anyone else well into her second tour as First Lady. BE BEST and just go away!” wrote one reader in the comments section of the article, invoking Melania’s own words and “Be Best” White House initiative.
Another posted: “She lives a life of excess and materialism and she’s telling mothers—some who work two and three jobs—to do more at home but make sure they take time for self care?… What a disgrace.”
“Your husband compared a reporter to a female dog the other day,” one reader added.
“You are one tone deaf person,” wrote another.
The first lady’s op-ed comes after her self-titled documentary was released by Amazon earlier this year, at a reported cost of $75 million. Billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos also owns The Post.
The connection was not lost on the Washington paper’s readers. “Does Bezos’ devotion to the Trumps have no bottom?” wrote one user.
“If you haven’t unsubscribed yet maybe this will inspire you. The only way to save the Post is to cut off its air supply. Then maybe Jeff will sell and it can be reborn. The indignity he’s visiting upon this paper is hard to bear,” added another.
One reader wrote: “The Washington Post was once a great newspaper and my reliable companion every morning. Now it’s…. this.”
Since Bezos’ takeover of The Post, it has lost significant readership. After 44 percent of The Post’s reporters were laid off in February, the newspaper lost 60,000 subscribers, The New York Times reported. Veterans of the paper have also resigned, including opinion editor David Shipley, who left in February. Long-time columnist Ruth Marcus followed a month later after claiming that a dissenting column she had written had been axed.
