Former first lady Melania Trump fired back at a historian who criticized the renovations she made to the White House Rose Garden last year, calling his remarks “misleading” and “dishonorable” before questioning his credibility.
“.@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,” the former first lady’s office tweeted on Sunday.
.@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
The message was in response to a tweet from Michael Beschloss, presidential historian for NBC News and a frequent critic of former President Trump, who said that the “evisceration” of the White House Rose Garden was finished a year ago this month.
“And here was the grim result — decades of American history made to disappear,” Beschloss wrote.
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
The Trump White House revealed the newly renovated Rose Garden, which was spearheaded by the then-first lady, last August. Her office said she wanted to make the area more closely resemble the original 1962 design by Rachel Lambert Mellon during the Kennedy administration.
The changes sparked criticism among many who attacked the historic garden’s new look.
Excited to honor history & celebrate the future in our beautiful @WhiteHouse Rose Garden this evening. Thank you to all who helped renew this iconic & truly gorgeous space. pic.twitter.com/ggiqLkdGbw
— Melania Trump 45 Archived (@FLOTUS45) August 22, 2020
A petition surfaced in April, which has received more than 80,000 signatures, calling for first lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff to reverse the changes to the Rose Garden.
“We want Jill Biden and Doug Emhoff to take this on and restore the Rose Garden to [former first lady Jackie Kennedy’s] original design,” the Change.org petition said.
The petition argued that the renovations made by the Trump administration “ripped away” Kennedy’s legacy. Biden and Emhoff have not responded to the petition.
Via The Hill
