The White House blasted the media Tuesday for pointing out that first lady Melania Trump's "Be Best" campaign recycled a pamphlet first issued under the Obama administration.
The booklet, published online Monday following the first lady's launch of her anti-bullying initiative, was posted as if it were written by Trump and the Federal Trade Commission.
After similarities to the Obama-era edition were picked up online, the text was revised to describe it as a "Federal Trade Commission booklet, promoted by First Lady Melania Trump."
A White House statement released on Tuesday accused "opposition" media of taking "a day meant to promote kindness and positive efforts on behalf of children, to instead lob baseless accusations towards the First Lady and her new initiatives."
Trump launched her official platform as first lady on Monday. The "Be Best" campaign will focus on "well-being," social media use and opioid abuse.
"Mrs. Trump agreed to add 'Be Best' branding and distribute the booklet in an effort to use her platform to amplify the positive message within," the first lady's communications director Stephanie Grisham said in a statement.
During the 2016 Republican convention, Trump was criticized after she delivered a speech that included lines spoken by then-first lady Michelle Obama years before.
A speechwriter ultimately took the blame, saying she took quotes that Trump said she had "always liked" and mistakenly included them in the final speech.
White House Blasts Media in Melania Booklet Flap
- By VOA News
