Why Melania Invited a Kid Named Joshua Trump to the State of the Union

Donald Trump’s guest list of people he and the First Lady have invited to tonight’s State of the Union address is generally unremarkable. For example, they invited the family of a couple killed by an undocumented immigrant, an official investigating human trafficking, former convicted drug trafficker Alice Johnson, survivors of the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue massacre, a recovering opioid addict, a laid-off sawmill employee who got his job back, and a child cancer survivor.

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But one of the guests on his list, invited by First Lady Melania Trump, is very strange, and illustrates the depth of their narcissism:

>@FLOTUS is bringing a kid named Joshua Trump to the State of the Union. “Unfortunately, Joshua has been bullied in school due to his last name. He is thankful to the First Lady and the Trump family for their support.”  

Here is Joshua’s description, as reported in a White House press release:

“Joshua Trump is a 6th grade student in Wilmington, Delaware.  He appreciates science, art, and history. He also loves animals and hopes to pursue a related career in the future.  His hero and best friend is his Uncle Cody, who serves in the United States Air Force. Unfortunately, Joshua has been bullied in school due to his last name.  He is thankful to the First Lady and the Trump family for their support.”

Certainly bullying is a serious and important issue, and a cause that is proper for the First Lady to champion. No child should ever be bullied. (Ironically, last fall Melania said that she was the “most bullied person” in the world.)

So why, out of the potentially millions of bullying victims in the country, did the Trumps choose this particular bullying victim? Weirdly, the only possible explanation is that this boy has the same last name as the First Family. This is more than a little narcissistic.

The President and First Lady would have received massive amounts of praise for bringing one of the millions of Hispanic children who have been bullied ever since Trump won election after attacking Mexicans and other Latinos.

Or how about bringing one of the thousands of transgender students who have been taunted and bullied because of what bathroom they use?

If the Trumps are so concerned about bullying based on their last name, how about considering the African-American student in Tennessee who was blocked from entering his classroom by two white students shouting “Trump! Trump!”?

One of the planks of Melania’s “Be Best” campaign, which was first advertised with a pamphlet plagiarized from President Barack Obama’s Federal Trade Commission, is to combat cyberbullying. That is certainly a good cause, but it is hard to take seriously since one study found that areas of the country that voted for Trump have seen sharp upswings in school bullying, and given that Trump himself is the world’s most famous cyberbully.

Donald and Melania Trump have once again shown that they don’t really care about other people. They only care about themselves — and other people with the last name of Trump.

Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.