White House adviser Peter Navarro sparked an intense backlash for comparing Melania Trump to Jackie Kennedy.
Speaking to MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell, Navarro said:
I find [Melania Trump] to be the Jackie Kennedy of her time. The beauty, the elegance, the soft-spokenness.
I think she'll deliver a powerful message to the American people.
Melania Trump indeed went on to deliver a speech from the White House Rose Garden as part of the Republican National Convention that evening. Whether or not it was "powerful" is another question entirely.
Obviously, the number one issue with Navarro's comment is how incredibly patronising it is.
Women should be beautiful and soft-spoken?
Peter Navarro describing @flotus “beauty, elegance, soft-spokenness” - the administration’s view of women— (((Bad Hombre))) (@(((Bad Hombre)))) 1598372242
But people chose to focus far more on the comparison to Jackie Kennedy.
What likely inspired Navarro's comment was the fact that Melania Trump recently completed a renovation of the White House Rose Garden, which had gone largely untouched since the Kennedy administration.
Trump removed flowerbeds thought to be planted by Jackie Kennedy and uprooted some of the garden's iconic blossom trees.
Before and after photographs of newly renovated White House Rose Garden: courtesy #Getty and @marycjordan https://t.co/w6bzoNHMjC— Michael Beschloss (@Michael Beschloss) 1598105408
Not everyone was thrilled with the results.
Trump has also compared his wife to Jackie Kennedy.
Asked why he planned to repaint the presidential jet – and depart from the colour scheme designed by John and Jackie Kennedy – by Fox and Friends last year, Trump responded:
I like the concept of red, white and blue. It’ll look much better, actually.
The baby blue doesn’t fit with us... and it was Jackie O. And that's good, but we have our own Jackie O today. It's called Melania. We'll call it Melania T.
After her husband's assassination, Jackie Kennedy was sometimes referred to as Jackie O because of her marriage to Greek shipping millionaire Aristotle Onassis.
Then, and now, the internet responded by ridiculing Melania.
Peter Navarro just said "Melania Trump is the Jackie Kennedy of our time." ALL. OF. THEM. ARE. BATSHIT. CRAZY.— Brian O'Sullivan (@Brian O'Sullivan) 1598374437
To clarify: It was Peter Navarro, not me who made this stupid comparison. I think Melania is no Jackie Kennedy. T… https://t.co/UzSE2yF4RU— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@Ana Navarro-Cárdenas) 1598388195
Peter Navarro literally just said on Andrea Mitchell - "Melania Trump is the Jackie Kennedy of our time". He shou… https://t.co/2MKuIqbAv2— Jules - Forever Ridin' with Biden #46 (@Jules - Forever Ridin' with Biden #46) 1598372172
Of course, there are valid criticisms to be made about the woman who peddled a racist conspiracy theory about Barack Obama's birthplace.
Funny I don't remember Jackie Kennedy asking for a Black man's birth certificate to prove he was born in America Fuck Melania— A Black Woman..The End (@A Black Woman..The End) 1598389515
And yes, she really did wear a jacket that says "I really don't care, do u?" while travelling to visit children in a migrant detention centre.
@JRehling Would Jackie have worn a jacket like this while visiting immigrant children at a border detention center? https://t.co/UZmvXQDPtW— Mia Michaels (@Mia Michaels) 1598383878
But far too many of the criticisms centred on Trump's appearance and former modelling career.
Nudity shaming and misogyny isn't suddenly okay when it's perpetrated against someone whose ideology you're opposed to.
Women deserve respect because we are people. Not because we fit into a particular mould of what you think a woman should be.
To tear Trump down because you don't think she's beautiful, elegant, or soft-spoken is to accept that these are the standards a woman should be held to. And we absolutely don't expect the same from men.
i want to make a witty response but then i read the replies to this tweet and like... can we not with the misogyny… https://t.co/bNaiFc5SKp— timmy, the first openly gay muppet 💕🤗 (@timmy, the first openly gay muppet 💕🤗) 1598402751
So maybe we could just stop comparing the appearances and personal lives of presidents' wives altogether?
Because the standards we hold the First Lady to – and, frankly, the concept altogether – is outdated and tired.