First lady Melania Trump tweeted a photo of herself wearing a white hard hat while she consults with two other women for renovations on the White House tennis pavilion and was immediately met with backlash for her “out of touch” post.
“I am excited to share the progress of the Tennis Pavillion at @WhiteHouse. Thank you to the talented team for their hard work and dedication,” she captioned the post.
“Tennis anyone? We’re in a pandemic and she’s working on a tennis court. Can these people be any more out of touch with regular people?” one person replied.
“Who cares about a flipping tennis pavilion when your hubby and cronies have kids locked in cages, families separated, destroyed lunch programs and SNAP, trying to take away healthcare from those with pre-existing conditions, lacking pandemic info on CV – You Are Not Being Best,” another chimed in.
The U.S., meanwhile, has been struggling to respond to the growing coronavirus threat. Melania’s husband, President Donald Trump, has been seen as downplaying the seriousness of the situation, which experts say has led to a slowed and inadequate response to attempt to contain the virus.
Initially, kits to test for the virus were faulty on release and new ones had to be rolled out. Then, many of the kits were bottlenecked at the CDC, so results weren’t being returned as quickly as necessary.
Most recently, on the same day as the first lady’s photo op, the White House said that 2,500 COVID-19 test kits would be delayed, meaning they wouldn’t be available by the end of the week as promised.
It was an honor to attend today’s International Women of Courage Awards #IWOC2020 with @SecPompeo at @StateDept . The women recognized today are not just strong & resilient – they are a true inspiration to us all. #WomensHistoryMonth pic.twitter.com/a5Wbwj6FDw
— Melania Trump 45 Archived (@FLOTUS45) March 5, 2020
All this comes as the president told citizens that they should go to work to help themselves recover from being sick. This goes against experts who say that anyone showing symptoms — even if they may be mild — should stay home and avoid coming into contact with other people.
As The Inquisitr previously reported, Trump was speaking with Fox News’ Sean Hannity when he made the claim, saying that some people have such mild symptoms that they don’t make the news, but those individuals get better by sitting around or heading into work, where they recover.
His comments were met with shock from those who have been informed that they should do the opposite.
During the same interview, he claimed that he had a hunch the mortality rate recently released by the World Health Organization, which shows a 3.4 percent death rate for the virus, was wrong.