Melania Trump took on several White House related renovations during husband Donald Trump‘s presidency, and her latest is causing her to get dragged on Twitter. The 50-year-old on Dec. 7 announced that the nearly year-long renovation of the White House tennis pavilion had been completed, and showed off before and after photos of the building. To her credit, the new and improved structure is gorgeous. But Twitter users are calling her out for spending time improving a building that so few will ever use, when COVID-19 has been killing thousands of Americans since March 2020 and causing economic hardship for millions of others.
History continues to unfold at the @WhiteHouse & I am pleased to announce the completion of the tennis pavilion. Preserving this historic landmark is vital & I want to thank all who helped complete this project. pic.twitter.com/8NAjbYViS0
— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) December 7, 2020
After Melania shared the before and after photos to her Twitter account, she got absolutely roasted. User @Stevenson12Amy told the first lady, “One more thing you never learned as FLOTUS. Read the room! You care about the tennis courts while people are dying in record numbers. People can’t pay their rent/mortgage. Businesses are closing. ALL due to the Administration & their terrible response to the pandemic.”
@Desiree51787690 responded to both Melania and @WhiteHouse by writing, “She’s like Marie Antoinette, but not as smart,” referring to last queen of France before the French Revolution (she later met her fate via a guillotine). As the citizens of nation suffered from extreme poverty, she and husband Louis XVI lived a life of luxury at the Palace Versailles.
Melania was called out as being a reincarnation of Marie Antoinette in July 2020 when she announced she was renovating the White House Rose Garden, despite mounting COVID-19 deaths and so much economic suffering for millions of Americans. With the tennis pavilion’s renovation, user @KelleyBean wrote that “This is the most ‘Let them eat cake’ sh*t I’ve ever seen,” referring to Marie’s infamous line upon learning that peasants had no bread and were starving. User @WileELiberal joked, “Melania Antoinette: “Let them play tennis…”
With 280,000 Americans dead from COVID-19, I really don't care about Melania's tennis courts, do you?
— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) December 7, 2020
Glad Melania is focusing on the important things. It's just what we need to take our minds off nearly 300,000 deaths, people waiting in line for hours at food banks & the very real threat of losing their homes which is terrifying so many! But at least the tennis pavilion is ready
— SUE (@suzywuzywoooo) December 7, 2020
User @daverite tweeted at Melania with her “Be Best” anti-bullying campaign slogan, telling her, “Thank you FLOTUS. Mrs. BE BEST, for your incredible contribution of a private tennis court you built during a pandemic for first families leisure time. I am sure Jill and Joe will make great use of it throwing a tennis ball to Major and Champ. BE BEST Melania!” referring to incoming POTUS Joe Biden and wife Dr. Jill Biden‘s two pet German Shepherds.
Not everyone was piling on the hate though. User @russiancosmist noted, “it was privately funded and looks great!” Fan @gmaxever gushed, “Omg this is a stunning makeover! Wow… everything that is on the White House ground should be a stunning tribute to America’s greatness…thank you First Lady.” The accompanying press release about the completion of the pavilion stated that private donations were used for the renovation of the building, and that planning for the project began in early 2018, with approval coming in 2019.