Saving Melania
by Calla Jones Corner
First Lady Fears in France
The French will still hate Donald Trump if he pulls off another victory in November. They are terrified that "Orange Man" will, along with the other 20 members of NATO that haven't met their common defense obligations, make them pay up or even leave NATO.
After Trump's “Super Tuesday” victories, French TV talking heads have been apoplectic. Suddenly, even the heated conversation about France changing its Constitution to make abortion – including late term – legal during Women's Month has been replaced by Trump winning in November.
But will Melania Trump appear again on the cover of French magazines?
The most beautiful and stylish First Lady to have ever occupied the White House had graced cover after cover of French and other international magazines until she became First Lady. Editors then followed the lead of Vogue’s unabashed liberal Editor-in-Chief (and Michelle Obama sycophant) Anna Wintour, who refused to give Melania another cover as First Lady (Melania was on the 2005 cover of Vogue in her wedding dress). Wintour claimed advertisers and readership would suffer if she put anything Trump on the cover.
Asked by Megyn Kelly in 2021 about Vogue’s lack of coverage of her as First Lady, Melania said, “They’re biased and they have likes and dislikes, and it’s obvious. I think American people, and everyone sees it." She added. “It was their decision, and I have much more important things to do – and I did in the White House – than being on the cover of Vogue.”
First it was the height of her heels (Melania is 5’11”, barefooted), then it was her choice of hats, her green jacket that read "I don't care" and, oh yes, wearing sunglasses in France during D-day celebrations. The left-wing press just couldn't disparage enough our former First Lady's wardrobe. It wanted you to think that Melania didn't know how to dress appropriately for her new position.
They couldn't find anything else to criticize.
A Dearth of Designers
The fashion-conscious French stayed silent about our chic, gorgeous, and gracious First Lady. After all, she speaks five languages and has rarely, if ever, made a faux pas. Some American designers publicly turned their backs on Melania. Marc Jacobs, for example, famously sniffed, “I’d rather put my energy into helping out those who will be hurt by Trump and his supporters.” Tom Ford and Sophie Theallet both dressed Michelle Obama but refused to do so for Melania. Theallet, in an open letter to her clients, wrote “As one who celebrates and strives for diversity, individual freedom and respect for all lifestyles, I will not participate in dressing or associating in any way with the next First Lady.”
French fashion designers, although mostly silent, weren’t nearly as cruel.
Nary a word either that French-American designer Hervé Pierre designed Melania's inauguration gown and that the First Lady and the French couturier had such a significant rapport that Pierre acted as Melania’s de facto stylist during her four years in the White House.
Lately it's been the lefty gossips on both sides of the Atlantic that have been wondering where Melania has been since gracefully stepping off the Trump plane in Palm Beach in a dress of sunflowers the day she moved out of the White House.
I, a Melania fan, give the former first lady a big thumbs up for staying out of sight in Mar-a-Lago, raising Barron and, we have discovered, taking care of her ailing mother, who passed away recently at 78. She is probably taking care of her elderly father, too. That's what normal, loving mothers and daughters do – even in France.
Fast forward to a recent cringe-worthy TV interview with “Dr.” Jill Biden when she was asked if she thought Joe was able to do another four years as President. "Oh, I've been watching him go around the country with such vigor," answered our present First Lady, who refused to hang a seventh Christmas stocking for a granddaughter she wishes wasn't born. Hunter and the rest of the Biden family are rarely, if ever, mentioned in the French press.
For the first time this week I heard a French TV commentator refer to Jill's campaigning for Joe as "elder abuse", echoing what many Americans are saying and more are thinking. The French hold grandparents dearly and even celebrate them. I should know; last Sunday was Grandmother's Day.
This is the moment to point out that it's Dr. Jill who wants to stay in the White House. After all, she gets a lot of perks, even though for anyone with a TV, there are some downsides: having to lead Joe by the hand for the last three years, whispering to her hubby that he's going on and on and must stop talking nonsense and sniffing young girls' hair, seeing that he gets his afternoon nap, eats more veggies and making sure she's carrying a diaper bag… just in case.
I wonder what Dr Jill would say about the FBI rummaging through her panties drawer to find something compromising? Maybe that her undies are silk and a gift from China?
I imagine that France’s First Lady, Brigitte Macron, who never puts a fashion foot wrong and has suffered from left-wing press commenting on her unorthodox marriage to the French president (she is 25 years older than her husband), might now be indulging in some pillow talk as her husband faces falling poll numbers.
If you're a fashion critic (like me) who still believes in common sense conservatism, pillow talk, and thinks appearances matter, but who would never wear a MAGA hat, take another look at Melania and give a thought to who should be our next First Lady.
I think the French can count on Melania to help her husband choose a vice president who can take over from her 77-year-old husband after four years (or sooner, if need be). Melania really prefers Mar-a-Lago over the White House.
Who could blame her?
Yes, I too was appalled at the shunning of our First Lady during Trump's presidency. At one point I wrote to CBS News and asked where was Melania Trump's story on a "60 Minutes" segment? I explained that hers would be a fascinating story: Her immigrant story. The eastern European town where she was raised. Her life as a model. Her fluency in multiple languages. Her commitment to her family. But nothing.
Melania was a Tour de force in her handling of the many unpleasant facets of being wife to the president of the USA. She came out of all the unwarranted hostility with dignity and honor in putting her family ahead of the criticisms and outright hostility of a press mob, who used her as a surrogate to attack her husband.
Beauty is a matter of opinion, but I think she is classically beautiful, very elegant and has a captivating presence. And, those who say the least, are often those who are most intelligent.