Melania Trump's "I Really Don't Care" Jacket Parodies

About

Melania Trump's "I Really Don't Care" Jacket Parodies refer to photoshops of and jokes about First Lady Melania Trump's jacket which read "I Really Don't Care. Do U?" while on her way to visit migrant children at the U.S.-Mexico border amidst the the controversy surrounding the separation of children from their parents as result of the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy regarding illegal immigrants crossing the border.

Origin

On June 21st, The Daily Mail^[1] reported the in a surprise visit to the boarder in Texas, First Lady Melania Trump wore a $39 Zara jacket that reads, "I really don't care, do u?" That day, Twitter user @timkmak^[2] tweeted, "Daily Mail reports that Melania Trump boarded her plane to Texas wearing a jacket that said on the back, 'I really don't care, do u?'" The post (shown below) received more than 3,700 retweets and 4,300 likes in 24 hours.

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The jacket quickly drew criticism for its message, as it was interpreted as potentially representing Trump's feelings regarding the ongoing controversy. A spokeswoman for the first lady responded by saying, "It's a jacket. There was no hidden message. After today's important visit to Texas, I hope this isn't what the media is going to choose to focus on."^[3]

Twitter user @TheLincoln tweeted, "I agree that there is no 'hidden message' when the message is PAINTED IN GIANT LETTERS ON THE BACK FOR EVERYONE TO READ." The post (shown below, left) received more than 400 retweets and 1,200 likes in 24 hours. User @GuinessKebab tweeted an imagined thought process about choosing the jacket, gaining over 1,500 retweets and 5,100 likes (shown below, right).

Other Twitter users made photoshopped parodies of the jacket, adding their own phrases. For example, Twitter user @sarayasin tweeted a parody that gained over 680 retweets and 3,900 likes (shown below, left). A tweet by @cmclymer referenced the upcoming midterm elections, gaining over 18,000 retweets and 84,000 likes (shown below, right).

Other users compared the jacket to other jackets from pop culture. For example, Twitter user @torqpenderloin tweeted a still from The Simpsons, gaining over 500 retweets and 2,900 likes (shown below, left). User @gheorghetheblog tweeted a picture of Kramer from Seinfeld, gaining over 114 retweets and 920 likes (shown below, right).

Twitter user @ParkerMolloy^[4] created a website in response called IReallyDoCare.com which directed to organizations one could donate to to help the migrant families. The parodies were covered by Twitter Moments^[5] and Daily Dot.^[6]

T.I.'s Album Teaser

On October 12th, 2018, rapper T.I. posted a NSFW teaser video for his album Dime Trap.^[8] In the video, T.I. sits in the Oval Office while a Melania Trump lookalike, actress Melanie Marden, strips out of the "I Really Don't Care, Do U?" jacket. The video was made partially in criticism of Kanye West's 2018 White House Visit. ^[7]

The teaser was criticized by Melania Trump spokesperson Stephanie Grisham, who called for a boycott of T.I.

The actress reported that she had received death threats after the video aired. Speaking to Page Six TV,^[8] she said, "I got a text message on my cellphone, which is unlisted and [is] not handed out very easily, and it basically said, ‘Follow my instructions or you’ll be assassinated within the next 24 hours,'” and that she was told “No matter where I go in the world and if I try to run, I’ll be assassinated right away.” Marden took the message to the police and spent the night at the police precinct and has said that a detective is on the case.

Various Examples

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