Okay, this is amazing.
Almost 40,000 people have signed an online petition calling for first lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff to undo changes to the White House Rose Garden undertaken by the previous first lady Melania Trump.
“In 2019, Melania Trump had the cherry trees, a gift from Japan, removed as well as the rest of the foliage and replaced with a boring tribute to herself,” the Change.org petition says. “We want Jill Biden and Doug Emhoff to take this on and restore the Rose Garden to former first lady Jackie Kennedy’s original design.”
The petition says the changes, which were overseen by Trump and paid for by private donations, “ripped away” Kennedy’s legacy.
The White House debuted the newly renovated garden in August, ahead of the then-first lady’s address to the Republican National Convention.
First look at the refreshened Rose Garden, from where First Lady Melania Trump will speak at the convention Tuesday night pic.twitter.com/WowbDRfkGB [1]
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) August 22, 2020 [2]
The garden, which is often used by presidents to deliver speeches and hold outdoor press briefings, was the site of a “superspreader event” last September when it was used to celebrate Amy Coney Barrett’s SCOTUS nomination.
Three weeks after Melania unveiled the new garden design, it had to undergo emergency repairs after experiencing “issues with water drainage” and “some minor complications with updated construction.”
Then the grass had to be completely redone after it was damaged beyond repair during the Republican National Convention, when hundreds of people trampled all over it.
Twitter is here for it:
Everything melania did (and it ain’t much) SHOULD BE UNDONE!
— Elle (@loisaparker) April 29, 2021 [3]
Small request here- can we fix the destruction of the Rose Garden by the previous administration? So much history and beauty was destroyed. Plus, I'm Irish Catholic, so I'm kinda protective of what Jackie did during JFK's time. Hope something can be done.
— Mike Putnam (@puttyfootball) April 29, 2021 [4]
Dr. Jill Biden: Restore Jackie Kennedy's Rose Garden – Restore the White House Garden to its former beauty.
Please sign, share and tweet! https://t.co/W2LvexClLw [5] via @Change [6]— Nancy Meute (@bandnentx2) April 29, 2021 [7]
So sad! pic.twitter.com/hFfmNHQxaU [8]
— 💥 We Wondered Why Not (@TyMurphy19) April 29, 2021 [9]
If she asked, I'll bet hundreds of volunteer gardeners would come to restore Rose Garden. I was allowed to take a photograph there way back when I was in Jr. High… got my name in the local paper, too. It broke my heart when the trumps destroyed it in an act of pure meanness
— Jeff Greene (@peaceful09) April 29, 2021 [10]