I thought Nancy Reagan endured her share of undue criticism while serving as first lady during her husband's presidency, but I’m going to have to say it was nothing like the constant avalanche of recent, petty, mean-spirited abuse heaped on Melania Trump.
The convenient, go-to phrase for these circumstances would be "she’s under the microscope," but that doesn’t convey the intensity of targeting. A more accurate description would be Melania is on the dissection-table.
Ms. Trump can’t even prepare to visit Hurricane Harvey victims without self-appointed scolds attacking her as she prepared to depart the White House.
In this instance it was her choice of shoes. She was wearing what appeared to be four-inch spiked heels as she boarded Marine One. Personally, I would have supported an intervention by a podiatrist, but I have nothing but contempt for the sniping of the fashion and compassion police.
Based on no facts at all, these moral arbiters concluded the stilettos indicated an intent (on her part) to spend as little time with Harvey victims as possible and, if unavoidably confronted with a victim, to be as condescending as possible.
This petty abuse says much more about the critics than it does about the first lady. Melania could have avoided all this opprobrium if she had just married a Democrat. No one criticizes Huma Abedin for the fact her husband, Anthony Weiner, appears to be a predator.
Certainly no one has ever accused her of being complicit in his genuinely disgusting proclivities. And, as far as I know, our leftist social critics have never criticized any of Huma’s apparel choices.
Melania, on the other hand, gets what’s coming to her because she not only married a Republican, she had the audacity to marry Donald J. Trump.
The fact Melania conducts herself with a quiet dignity in public and is never guilty of hogging the spotlight means nothing to her rabid critics, who completely lack a sense of proportion, or even common sense, for that matter.
Fortunately, in a White House not noted for measured replies to unfair, unwarranted personal attacks, the office of the first lady had an inspired reply to these sneering, know-nothings, "It’s sad that we have an active and ongoing natural disaster in Texas, and people are worried about her shoes."
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker’s bureau. Read more reports from Michael Reagan — Go Here Now.