Here’s How Twitter Turned Melania Trump’s Red Christmas Trees Into Handmaids
First Lady of the United States Melania Trump unveiled her White House Christmas decorations recently, and among them was a hall filled with blood red trees. Twitter couldn’t help but think they resembled something else — handmaids from Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, which is based on Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel.
The First Lady does not have a great track record when it comes to decking out The People’s House in holiday decorations, and many people may remember last year’s “Time-Honored Traditions” theme. Last year the FLOTUS relied heavily on icy white, but this year she turned to red — blood red for her “America’s Treasures” Theme, the Inquisitr reported. Although red is a typical Christmas color as well as the color typically used to describe conservative-leaning states, it is not difficult to see how Twitter had a field day turning the stark red trees into handmaids and calling the first lady “OfTrump” in the manner of the favorite TV show.
Almost instantly, wisecracking social media accounts began posting pictures of the hall of stark, red trees, which they referred to as comrade red, with the iconic handmaid’s bonnet atop them and describing the scene in the White House promo video featuring the first lady walking among the imposing trees as a nightmare.
One Twitter user even combined the first lady’s platform along with The Handmaid’s Tale and placed an image of the hall alongside a gathering of handmaids from the show. The result shows how strikingly similar the scenes look.
New #WhiteHouse #Christmas decorations! #BeBest pic.twitter.com/UqfZPS5xpo
— MmeDF (@MmeDefargeKnits) November 26, 2018
In addition to the shocking trees, Trump’s decorations also included a lone “Be Best” ornament, which is the name of her anti-bullying platform. Plus, a wreath of sharpened “Be Best” pencils grabbed a starring spot in the clip.
In a statement, Trump said, “This is a joyous time of year when we decorate the White House for the Christmas Season. Our theme honors the heart and spirit of the American people. Thank you to the many volunteers and staff who worked hard to decorate the halls of the People’s House in Christmas cheer. On behalf of my family, we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”
However, not everybody felt the holiday cheer when they saw the red-washed hallway. In addition to handmaids, the users of Twitter also saw The Lorax, The Shining (both the “come play with us” scene as well as the “door” scene), and comparisons to Russia and the Kremlin. Surely, she envisioned none of those comparisons when designing the elaborate decorations.
