Actor Tim Matheson was recently slammed on social media by critics for mocking former First Lady Melania Trump. He had been praising her successor, Dr. Jill Biden, for delivering White House chocolate chip cookies to the National Guard troops, but also added an implicit reference to Melania’s English-speaking abilities.
“So wonderful to have a First Lady with class and heart. And, can speak English!” he wrote.
Matheson received harsh blowback from the tweet and was accused of racism and xenophobia. American politician David Shafer shared his shock in finding Tim Matheson, whose work he always enjoyed, to be so openly bigoted against an immigrant who learned English as a second language. Matheson had argued that comedy is “cruelly honest” and that the former First Lady doesn’t have any of his respect.
Melania Trump is the second first lady in history born outside of the U.S. She became a naturalized U.S citizen and can speak six languages including Slovenian, French, Serbian, German, Italian, and English.
This isn’t the first time Democrats have openly mocked Melania Trump’s accent. Last year, actress Bette Midler also sparked backlash after mocking Melania’s speech from the second night of the Republican National Convention. The actress then doubled down in a second tweet. “#beBest is back! A UGE bore! She can speak several words in a few languages. Get that illegal alien off the stage!”
Although Midler hadn’t deleted the tweets, she apologized to former President Donald Trump and anyone else she offended. She walked back from the tweet writing that she was wrong to make fun of her accent. Matheson also apologized for his comment about Melania, saying he made a hasty and stupid joke that was in poor taste. “It was regretful and humorless and I apologize,” he tweeted. His tweet about the former lady has since been deleted.
High profile liberals slide past all of Twitter’s guidelines regarding hate speech and xenophobia. They don’t get their accounts frozen or suspended over speech. They coin the phrase “racist” while making racist comments against a woman who came from a different country.
If Matheson were treated like a Hollywood Conservative, he would’ve lost all current acting and business deals. Instead, he had to send out one tiny apology for getting called out. That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t say it again in a heartbeat.
