Donald Trump's wife should retire her signature initiative from her first time as first lady if and when she returns to the White House, a columnist wrote Sunday.
Melania Trump popularized a much-ridiculed "Be Best" plan, which was focused on reducing bullying, when she was the first lady. But many observers suggested it fell flat because of Trump's own tendency toward bullying his perceived enemies.
That's only one of the reasons why Melania should drop the plan entirely this next go around, according to South Jersey Times Guest Columnist Mark Praetzel.
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In an open letter published over the weekend, Praetzel took Melania to task for her anti-bullying platform and what Praetzel said was her unrelatability.
"I hate to bother you since you’ll soon be packing up your stuff to take back to the White House, or Mar-A-Lago, or Manhattan, or Bedminster. Surely, all Americans can relate to that," he wrote. "As a concerned citizen, and since you will be First Lady for the second time, I would like to request one favor of you. Please, please, please do not bring back your infamous 'Be Best' campaign. I know you meant well when your rolled out your anti-bullying initiative. But most people thought anything bullying-related from you was a tad ironic, because of your hubby and all. Others thought it was just your sneaky way of shaming Donald into being nice to people. It didn’t work."
Praetzel, a concerned citizen and advocate for democracy, said the "main problem arising from 'Be Best' was that Donald must have misheard it as 'Be Ist.'"
"And, he was great at it. Sexist, misogynist, chauvinist, egotist, narcissist, isolationist, extremist, supremacist," the columnist wrote. "He became the poster boy for all those ugly little 'Ists' that we mistakenly thought we had finally made some progress putting behind us. Now he’ll have four years to work on 'fascist.'"
He went on to offer some alternative plans for Melania.
"I’m confident there are many other causes that can replace 'Be Best.' Perhaps something to assist the immigrant community? Since you yourself are an immigrant, and Donald has always been so empath... er, scratch that," he wrote. "Or perhaps you could become an advocate against the existential threat of climate change? Anyone who cares about the future of their children or grandchildren — or likes to breathe, for that matter — would support you. I mean, it’s not as if your husband is a climate change deni-, er, scratch that, too. Anyway, you’re sure to find a new project you can put your heart into."
