Melania Trump may no longer be the first lady, but she’s still maintaining a public profile. So are her critics.
This month marks the anniversary of Trump’s restoration of the White House Rose Garden. One historian, Michael Beschloss, used this occasion to fire shots at Melania.
Michael Beschloss covers presidential history at NBC News. He is a frequent critic of former President Donald Trump.
On Twitter this weekend, he used the word “evisceration” to describe Melania’s restoration of the garden. Then he complained about the “decades of American history made to disappear.”
Evisceration of White House Rose Garden was completed a year ago this month, and here was the grim result—decades of American history made to disappear: @dougmillsnyt pic.twitter.com/78OqjkoOPt
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) August 7, 2021
In his tweet, Beschloss tagged Doug Mills, a photojournalist for the New York Times who covered the Rose Garden last August, right after its renovation.
Beschloss used Mills’ photo from last August, even though the photo was too old.
The newly renovated Rose Garden is seen Saturday morning. @FLOTUS's project, which is supported by the National Park Service and funded by private donations, took just about three weeks to complete. pic.twitter.com/lYPY7BBszd
— Doug Mills (@dougmillsnyt) August 22, 2020
Before long, the former first lady fought back.
On Twitter, she pointed out that Beschloss had tweeted an old photo. The photo was taken before the roses had time to bloom, she pointed out.
She questioned his credibility as a historian and pointed out the error.
“[Beschloss] has proven his ignorance.” she said. “He should never be trusted as a professional historian.”
She tweeted a more recent photo of the Rose Garden in a reply to Beschloss.
.@BeschlossDC has proven his ignorance by showing a picture of the Rose Garden in its infancy. The Rose Garden is graced with a healthy & colorful blossoming of roses. His misleading information is dishonorable & he should never be trusted as a professional historian. https://t.co/LU243SANF1 pic.twitter.com/PuVOSjxx5w
— Office of Melania Trump (@OfficeofMelania) August 8, 2021
Under Trump, the garden was touched up for the first time since 1961, during Jacqueline Kennedy’s tenure as first lady.
Trump installed a three-foot-wide limestone walkway around the garden to comply with the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. She also moved the 60-year-old crabapple trees to another part of the White House, presumably because the trees had died.
Trump was met with an uproar after restoring the garden. Liberal critics complained that she had changed the garden too drastically. Some critics falsely claimed that Trump had removed every rosebush planted by any first lady since 1913.
And some critics still aren’t over it.
Earlier this year, a petition asked for current First Lady Jill Biden to undo Trump’s changes.
The petition received 82,000 signatures, but the current first lady hasn’t commented on it.
In fact, she seems to be enjoying Trump’s changes to the Rose Garden!
Spring is here at the @WhiteHouse! pic.twitter.com/n87JOlJ7NN
— Jill Biden (@FLOTUS) May 7, 2021
The Horn editorial team