Last week, the White House uploaded a photo of the exterior of the FLOTUS’ home, which featured several Christmas wreaths.
.@FLOTUS‘ signature Christmas wreaths with classic red bows hang on the outside windows of the White House! pic.twitter.com/vG5QidaXiW
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) December 24, 2019
“@FLOTUS’ signature Christmas wreaths with classic red bows on the outside windows of the White House!” they captioned the snap.
However, the description seemingly suggested that it was the first lady who invented the style of Christmas wreaths. Critics immediately lambasted the FLOTUS and accused of her plagiarizing the concept and design of Christmas wreaths.
“Are you saying she made them herself? Or designed wreaths to have red bows? Or what? Because this is literally the most common piece of Christmas decor. I’m confused why this is new,” Twitter user @jennyinDC said.
“Seriously. Melania’s Signature red bows? Where have you been? The whole world uses red bows on green wreaths,” Twitter user @ungemarg said.
“She did it to Michelle Obama so why not Christmas too?” Twitter user @LoveLincoln1900 said.
“They are definitely Melania’s signature wreaths – just like her first speech as FLOTUS was hers and hers alone,” Twitter user @imogensound said.
“Michelle did it first,” Twitter user @antifahyst said.
“Yes, her signature… Its style, and class, and elegance. Undeniably HERS. Merry Christmas,” Twitter user @elenas_my said.
Plagiarism is quite a sore subject for Donald Trump’s wife since she was accused of copying Michelle Obama’s speech. In 2016, journalist Jarett Hill criticized the FLOTUS for copying an entire paragraph off of Obama’s speech.
But hours later, Melania’s staff writer, Meredith McIver, admitted that it was she who included some passages from Obama’s 2008 speech in the first lady’s address.
“This was my mistake and I feel terrible for the chaos I have caused Melania and the Trumps, as well as Mrs. Obama. No harm was meant. Mr. Trump told me people make innocent mistakes and that we learn and grow from experiences,” McIver said in a statement.