Look for this to be the way going forward. Melania Trump has made it clear that she’s not even interested this time out in faking that she lives at the White House or cares about being a First Lady. And in many ways I can’t blame her. Melania is singularly unsuited for political life. Although she’s lived in the United States for three decades she still speaks English poorly, making rookie mistakes like “teached” instead of “taught.” Her sole purpose in Trump world is to be ornamental and the FLOTUS gig requires somebody with a brain. Usha Vance has a brain and so she got drafted this week to go on Fox & Friends and pitch a summer reading program.
Second Lady Usha Vance, a self-confessed bookworm, took the spotlight Thursday to plug her White House–backed summer reading challenge, stepping into a role left vacant by the mostly absent Melania Trump.
Vance, wife of vice president and Hillbilly Elegy author JD Vance, appeared on Fox & Friends to tout her plan aimed at tackling the alarming stat that 40 percent of Americans can’t read at a basic level.
But the segment was far from smooth. Bookish Yale graduate Vance stumbled through the softball interview, awkwardly smiling and stammering as Ainsley Earhardt lobbed easy questions her way.
At one point she suggested the initiative is a way to stop children “scrolling Instagram or Googling things you probably shouldn’t be Googling.”
Still, her campaign follows a long tradition of White House women leading literacy efforts: Michelle Obama famously read Green Eggs and Ham at the Library of Congress for Read Across America Day in 2011, Laura Bush launched “Ready to Read, Ready to Learn” during her tenure, and Barbara Bush’s family literacy foundation is still going strong.
Vance, and her kids, have a serious reading list. She said in October last year that her then-seven-year-old Ewan was “obsessed” with mythology and was reading “The Odyssey,” and “The Iliad” by the ancient Greek poet Homer.
Her own reading list, shown on Goodreads under her maiden name “Chilukuri,” includes the controversial book “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov and “White Teeth” by multiculturalism champion Zadie Smith.
Other titles include “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer” by Patrick Süskind and “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love: Stories” by Raymond Carver.
In March, she accidentally revealed she was reading—or had read—the very un-MAGA Earth in the Balance, authored by Bill Clinton’s VP, Al Gore.
Gee, how woke. That’s something that needs to be buried. Stuff that book under the cushion of a couch, preferably one that J.D. isn’t infatuated with. In all truth, it might be better for everybody if Usha basically acts as the First Lady and discharges those duties. Melania pretending to be a FLOTUS is painful to watch. It’s got to be even more painful for her. We all deserve a break. Just let Usha carry the ball and Melania can stay out of sight and out of mind. Donald would probably appreciate it, too, because he can save Melania’s appearance fee. It’s a win/win for everybody.
So, if 40% of Americans cannot read at a basic level, would that include one DJT? Asking for a friend 😉
Well, that 40% explains MAGA. (Now, where the other 9-ish percent of voters who picked Drumpf came from, that’s the real question.)