First Lady Melania Trump’s “I Really Don’t Care” jacket did not go over well, stimulating robust discussion on social media over whether it was just a tone-deaf mistake, or a ploy by her husband, the president, to distract the media from his Russia-collusion probe.
Alternate messages on jackets popped up all over social media to deflect the Trump energy and rally hope for Trump resisters, now and in November.
Mrs. Trump on Thursday flew unannounced to the U.S.-Mexico border to see how migrant families and detained children were being treated.
But it was her clothes rather than the visit that got most of the attention. As she boarded her plane to Texas, she was photographed wearing a jacket that read, “I really don’t care. Do U?”
By the time she landed in McAllen, Texas, the jacket was off, according to CNN, but the insensitivity of the gesture had already done its damage.
Thousands of children have been separated from their parents and arrested at the border while the adults are charged with illegally crossing into the U.S., Time reported.
“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,” the First Lady’s Communications Director Stephanie Grisham said in a statement.
However, the president couldn’t resist appropriating the moment. He confirmed that there was indeed a hidden message, tweeting: “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!”
Spoken like a stable genius.
Dictionary.com published a tweet defining the word “indifference” as it relates to the First Lady’s message.
Indifference. Lack of interest or care.
E.g. The words on Melania Trump's jacket indicate indifference. https://t.co/H7chXjfEMJ https://t.co/4FszWWLPna
— Dictionary.com (@Dictionarycom) June 21, 2018
Maybe she was talking about her husband!
— Julie Fields (@JulieDetroit) June 21, 2018
Why is she wearing a jacket when it's 100 degrees all over Texas ? Probably more with the real feel.
— nadiaface (@nadiaface) June 22, 2018
#IReallyDoCare and find today’s unfortunate act to be disgusting. With all the handlers on that damn plane no one stopped her? It shows how the WHOLE administration feels about this issue.
— M.Nicholas Jackson (@ubettergetit) June 21, 2018
I made my own jacket. 💅🏼#MelaniaTrump pic.twitter.com/MBhGOqpWME
— Charlotte Clymer 🇺🇦 (@cmclymer) June 21, 2018
https://twitter.com/namd4kids/status/1009980970764849153
Made a shirt today. Not the usual pen&thimble creation. But to be clear, there is no hidden message here. Just a shirt I’m wearing today. #ItsJustAJacket #Ireallydocare #YesIDoCare pic.twitter.com/fU6uZ9N04z
— Gillian (@penandthimble) June 22, 2018
— Robyn Roberts (@StyledByRobyn) June 22, 2018
@FLOTUS pic.twitter.com/EnFiDFW8cH
— Emma Jane (@EmmaJan09588702) June 21, 2018
Damn. These folks throw mad shade.
Well done.
— C ADAMS (@C4D4M5) June 21, 2018
https://twitter.com/AlfredUdeze1/status/1009896505644322817
It’s all a perfectly executed crisis management strategy— change the conversation from #KidsInCages and get everyone focused and talking about a coat. Don’t be fooled. Stay focused on #KeepFamilesTogether .
— Tiffany Vogt (@TVWatchtower) June 21, 2018
As public officials, it is our job to care. #ShirleyChisholm once said, “America has the laws and the material resources it takes to insure justice for all its people. What it lacks is the heart, the humanity.” Let’s live w/ our heart.
“We Should All Care” Art: @justinteodoro pic.twitter.com/rRhieZ3axe
— Rep. Val Demings (@RepValDemings) June 21, 2018
Thought this was photoshopped but no, this is real. While visiting children thrown into internment camps, Melania Trump actually wore a jacket saying, “I don’t really care, do U?” That’s like Marie Antoinette ripping a piece of bread from a starving baby and spitting on it. pic.twitter.com/B8njYXtNs7
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) June 21, 2018
While we're all talking about the jacket Melania Trump wore today, the Pentagon is making plans to house 20,000 migrant children at United States military bases.
Stay focused!
— Andrew Weinstein (@Weinsteinlaw) June 21, 2018
I made my own jacket. 💅🏼#MelaniaTrump pic.twitter.com/MBhGOqpWME
— Charlotte Clymer 🇺🇦 (@cmclymer) June 21, 2018
Listen, if she didn't want the backlash and wasn't trying to send a message, she would not have worn the coat. I refuse to ignore it and allow yet one more egregious morally unconscionable action go unchecked. #IReallyDoCare @FLOUTS
— MockingJayMom (@MockingJayMom) June 21, 2018
https://twitter.com/emilyxlong/status/1010147025881624577
https://twitter.com/MamaRose2017/status/1010043173723365376
You're just starting to see the kind of cruelty & lies that Trump will deploy in a desperate bid to distract from the #TrumpRussia probe.@Alyssa_Milano speaks for all of #TheResistance on the #DworkinReport with @funder when she demands his resignation.https://t.co/Miky73l1Kb
— Grant Stern (@grantstern) June 21, 2018
Fixed it:#trump pic.twitter.com/K9QC1E4aBg
— Micheaux Belafonte (@JheriCortez) June 22, 2018
