Politics - News Analysis

Bette Midler Says She’s Not Sorry For Calling Melania an ‘Illegal Immigrant’ Who ‘Can’t Speak English’

Bette Midler had quite the night last night as she live-tweeted Melania Trump’s speech. To say that Bette is no fan of Melania is to say that fires can feel a bit warm to the touch. She went off on Melania.

As we report what was said, it’s best to say right up top that despite the fact that Melania doesn’t deserve an ounce of sympathy, it is impossible for us to support what Midler said. For one, she was totally counter-productive which is reason enough to criticize Midler’s tweets. Her tweets might be seen as piling on and crass which will lead some, not many but some, to feel a bit of sympathy for Melania and give Melania a bit more of the benefit of the doubt that we’re on record as saying she doesn’t deserve in the first place.

And second, some of Midler’s criticism of Melania sounds just as nativist and misogynistic as the stuff we always fight against, even when it’s applied to a person whom we often call an entitled spoiled brat.

Midler said:

And:

And

And

Now, again, it was just yesterday that we called Melania a self-centered, spoiled, entitled, whiner, that enjoys playing the queen and yet doesn’t seem to want to mix with the regular every day Americans. So, it’s not like we think that criticism of Melania is wrong. That’s not the point.

The point is that a tweet saying “Get that alien off stage” sounds like a pronouncement that immigrants have no place in American politics, that immigrants should keep their mouths shut as lesser than native-born citizens. If Democrats stand for anything it is that we reject such thinking. Just because Melania happens to be the immigrant – with questionable immigration papers – doesn’t mean we attack the fact that she’s an immigrant. It means we attack the fact that she has no problem attacking immigrants.

We ourselves have said it is shocking that Melania still struggles with English after having lived here for 20 years. However, that criticism is only appropriate when noting that Melania has shown little interest in getting out in her adopted country and interacting with people. Because if she had, she’d have improved in speaking English. It doesn’t mean that people who struggle with English are necessarily dumb or shouldn’t speak their heart.

The “mail-order bride” thing is just a cheap shot. Melania launches plenty of cheap shots herself, and can be awfully cheap in her actions – the pictures prove it – but the mail-order thing, without any facts, is just crass. Let Melania’s past do the talking, it’s plenty bad on its own.

The last one is innocuous and legitimate criticism. How one comes across can indicate whether they care or have empathy.

But the main point is that all of this works against the left by opening the left up for very legitimate attacks that we’re hypocrites. From The Daily Beast:

Naturally, prominent right-wingers seized the opportunity to stage some bad-faith outrage over Midler’s tweets. For instance: Dana Loesch, who once whined on television about Mattel adding a Kenyan train to Thomas & Friends—called Midler a xenophobe, while Islamophobe and actor James Woods scoffed, “The party of diversity mocks an American for her accent…”

Midler and the left might say that Melania’s speech runs counter to everything her husband’s administration is about. Fair enough, we’ve written the same thing. So why not just say that and give examples from the speech. We did.

Finally, Midler wrote in defending herself.

Eh, so why not just criticize the hypocrisy and say that we’ve been gaslit for four years? It just makes little sense to give the Right ammo to say “Democrats are total hypocrites and do the exact same things they condemn.” Most people won’t believe it, but perhaps some do. Perhaps some say; “Well, Democrats will treat us the same way.”

We love Bette Midler, but this was dumb.

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Peace, y’all
Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @MiciakZoom

meet the author

Jason Miciak is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is originally from Canada but grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He now enjoys life as a single dad raising a ridiculously-loved young girl on the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He is very much the dreamy mystic, a day without learning is a day not lived. He is passionate about his flower pots and studies philosophical science, religion, and non-mathematical principles of theoretical physics. Dogs, pizza, and love are proof that God exists. "Above all else, love one another."

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