An Oregon Congressional hopeful apparently isn’t trying to “Be Best” on Twitter when it comes to Melania Trump: Independent Mark Roberts is getting convicted in the court of public opinion for a tweet calling the First Lady a “hoebag” who “works by the hour.”
Roberts lashed out at the presidential spouse and former model this week after the leader of a national organization for young conservatives noted that Trump has a much smaller East Wing staff than her predecessor, Michelle Obama.
FLOTUS spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham lambasted Roberts’ insult, telling Glamour in her first comments on the issue, “This is just more hypocritical intolerance from those who oppose her husband’s administration. To say such ugly words about a mother, wife and our First Lady is not just a pathetic attempt at getting himself in the news, it is disturbing and despicable.”
Male and female A-listers in Republican circles called Roberts out for the sexist slam.
Among the many White House allies urging Twitter boss Jack Dorsey to shut Roberts down: House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who said “comments like these have no business on any platform.”
Republican National Committee Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel, who’s just the second woman in party history to hold its top job, tweeted, “This attack on @FLOTUS is disgusting and everyone should condemn this candidate and his candidacy.”
And Fox News host Laura Ingraham questioned why the head of Twitter hadn’t suspended the account—prompting Roberts to double down by responding, “Let the donations begin in 3 2 1..”
Roberts also tweeted a screenshot of what appeared to be a response from Twitter saying it had investigated the comment but had taken no action because his remark did not violate the platform’s rules. “It’s that whole 1st amendment thing,” he added.
Roberts calls himself an independent conservative and says on his website that he’s neither a fan of the Trump Administration nor “the exclusiveness and intolerance that’s exhibited by the current Republican Party.”
The House member currently representing Oregon’s District 2 is a Republican, and Roberts will go up against him and a Democratic challenger in November’s midterms. The Roberts campaign did not immediately respond to a Glamour request for comment Wednesday morning.
It wasn’t only headliners who condemned his crude comment: Others in the Twitterverse rushed to the First Lady’s defense, calling Roberts’ broadside “classless” and “sickening.”
One user told Roberts, “You barely pass for a mature adult much less someone wanting to represent his state by running for congress” — and capped the response with the hashtag #bullying.
Combating bullying, as it happens, is a pillar of the First Lady’s “Be Best” campaign, which promotes respect and civility, specifically among children, as well as raising awareness of the national opioid crisis.
Some critics and wags sneered after Be Best’s May launch that if Trump wants to take on cyberbullies, she might want to start with her husband, who churns out a steady stream of political and personal insults on his own Twitter feed. Others say it’s not fair to take a wife — even the First Lady — to task for a husband’s behavior.
Rina Shah, a Republican strategist who promotes political engagement among women, told Glamour the Roberts incident demonstrates that “our nation’s political discourse has, unfortunately for all of us, continued to sink to new lows. Americans deserve real leadership and ideas from political candidates instead of illogical mudslinging and name-calling.”
Platforms like Twitter “have long allowed damaging comments against women to exist without accountability; however, voters in this Oregon district can hold Roberts accountable by not casting their vote for him—essentially sending the message that when you attack one woman, you attack all women,” Shah said via email.
“Regardless of what anyone thinks about Melania Trump’s life choices prior to entering the White House, she doesn’t deserve to be talked about in this manner nor should she be implicated for her any of her husband’s undignified remarks or behavior.”
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