Connect with us

BE BEST?

She’ll Watch ‘Any Channel She Wants’: First Lady’s Spox Blasts Report Trump Exploded Because She Was Watching CNN

Published

on

Spokesperson Doesn’t Deny President Was Enraged

The New York Times is reporting that President Donald Trump exploded in anger when the First Lady’s TV aboard Air Force One was not tuned to Fox News, but to CNN. Trump has reportedly ordered all televisions in the White House and any federal agency he controls to be tuned to Fox News.

In response, the First Lady’s spokesperson says Melania Trump will watch “any channel she wants,” throwing a rebuke directly at the President.

“Grisham told CNN Wednesday everyone should be focusing on the issues the first lady is seeking to highlight, such as neonatal abstinence syndrome, rather than what television channel she’s watching or a tape of her husband discussing a payout to a woman who claims to have had an extramarital affair with him,” CNN reports.

Grisham also blasted the media for not focusing on bullying, one of the First Lady’s pet causes – and one she has done little to combat, especially with her husband.

“Did you know that every 15 minutes a baby is born with NAS? Maybe you’d like to talk about the 160,000 kids who skip school every day for fear of being bullied, or that 280,000 students are physically attacked in schools every month,” Grisham said. “Seems kind of silly to worry about what channel she watches on TV (any channel she wants btw) or if she heard some recording on the news.”

Grisham failed to mention that many of those students who skip school every day do so because President Trump has unleashed and enabled racist, homophobic, misogynistic, and nativist bullying across the country.

The Times article was titled, “Spotting CNN on a TV Aboard Air Force One, Trump Rages Against Reality.”

Many on social media Tuesday night focus on this portion of the Times’ reporting:

“The email, an internal exchange between officials in the White House Military Office and the White House Communications Agency last Thursday, also called for the ordering of two additional televisions to support Beam, a TiVo-like streaming device, to make sure the president and first lady could both watch TV in their separate hotel rooms when they travel.”

Image by Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù
via Flickr and a
CC license

Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

BE BEST?

Melania ‘Be Best’ Trump Scathingly Slams Former Friend in Angry Attack on White House Website

Published

on

Melania Trump is attacking her former friend and senior advisor Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, who wrote a book and secretly recorded some of their conversations after the Trumps threw her under the bus.

TheFirst Lady recently wrote on the White House website that Barron, the Trump’s youngest son, had tested positive for coronavirus, noting that she and Barron are both now negative.

But on Friday the First Lady used the White House website for more nefarious purposes. She penned the attack on Wolkoff but attempted to hide it in a “Be Best” missive titled “Give Focus to Our Next Generation,” as The Daily Beast reports.

“Over the last couple of weeks,” the First Lady begins, “I have had time to reflect on many things personal to me. One of the most honorable and important roles I have ever undertaken has been serving you, the American people, as the First Lady of this country.

“When I thought about where I wanted to put my time and efforts, there was no hesitation. BE BEST has one simple purpose—to help children. It serves to provide the tools children need to prepare them for their futures.”

But then came the slam, which was not subtle, and not very “Be Best” at all.

“We all know that more often than not, information that could be helpful to children is lost in the noise made by self-serving adults. I have most recently found this to be the case as major news outlets eagerly covered salacious claims made by a former contractor who advised my office,” she writes, refusing to say the name of her former friend, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, instead calling her a “contractor” even though Wolkoff worked unpaid while at the White House. Later she referred to her as an “opportunist,” not even acknowledging their once long snd strong friendship.

“A person who said she ‘made me’ even though she hardly knew me, and someone who clung to me after my husband won the Presidency,” Melania Trump added.

“This is a woman who secretly recorded our phone calls, releasing portions from me that were out of context, then wrote a book of idle gossip trying to distort my character. Her ‘memoir’ included blaming me for her ailing health from an accident she had long ago, and for bad news coverage that she brought upon herself and others. Never once looking within at her own dishonest behavior and all in an attempt to be relevant. These kinds of people only care about their personal agenda—not about helping others,” Melania writes, apparently in an attempt to offer advice to Americans seeking her “Be Best” wisdom.

“As a country, we cannot continue to get lost in the noise of negativity and encourage ambition by those who seek only to promote themselves,” the First Lady adds, seemingly unaware of who her husband is.

 

Continue Reading

BE BEST?

Melania Trump Attacks Anonymous NYT Op-Ed Writer, and Defends First Amendment – but Not the President

Published

on

First Lady Melania Trump has issued a statement attacking the anonymous author – an unnamed senior White House official – of a damning New York Times op-ed that brutally scorches President Trump. In her remarks she also defends the First Amendment – but not at any point does she defend her husband.

“Freedom of speech is an important pillar of our nation’s founding principles and a free press is important to our democracy. The press should be fair, unbiased and responsible,” her statement begins.

“Unidentified sources have become the majority of the voices people hear about in today’s news,” it continues. “People with no names are writing our nation’s history. Words are important, and accusations can lead to severe consequences.”

“If a person is bold enough to accuse people of negative actions, they have a responsibility to publicly stand by their words and people have the right to be able to defend themselves.”

“To the writer of the op-ed — you are not protecting this country, you are sabotaging it with your cowardly actions,” the statement ends.

The First Lady did not defend her husband, the president. Nor did she refute or push back on any of the allegations in the op-ed.

Among them:

“The root of the problem is the president’s amorality. Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making.”

“In addition to his mass-marketing of the notion that the press is the ‘enemy of the people,’ President Trump’s impulses are generally anti-trade and anti-democratic.”

“Meetings with him veer off topic and off the rails, he engages in repetitive rants, and his impulsiveness results in half-baked, ill-informed and occasionally reckless decisions that have to be walked back.”

“President Trump shows a preference for autocrats and dictators.”

And more.

 

 

Continue Reading

BE BEST?

First Lady in Anti-Bullying Speech Says Most Children Know More About Social Media ‘Than Some Adults’

Published

on

First Lady Melania Trump delivered a speech Monday morning at the Cyberbullying Prevention Summit in Rockville, Maryland, ironically telling participants how children are more aware of the pitfalls of social media than some adults.

“Let’s face it,” the First Lady told attendees, “most children are more aware of the benefits and pitfalls of social media than some adults, but we still need to do all we can to provide them with information and tools for successful and safe online habits,” she said, according to her prepared remarks.

The First Lady’s speech was made in connection with her Be Best campaign to combat cyber bullying against children while teaching them good behavior.

“In today’s global society, social media is an inevitable part of our children’s daily lives,” the First Lady also shared with attendees, who included HHS Secretary Alex Azar. “It can be used in many positive ways, but can also be destructive and harmful when used incorrectly. That is why Be Best chooses to focus on the importance of teaching our next generation how to conduct themselves safely and in a positive manner in an online setting.”

President Trump reportedly is not supportive of the First Lady’s campaign, as The Hill notes.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.