On Thursday night, CNN's Anderson Cooper broadcast a leaked phone recording of First Lady Melania Trump in which she vented to her former friend Stephanie Winston Wolkoff in July 2018 about the White House Christmas display and her infamous trip to the border during that summer's migrant-family separation crisis. In the recording, Trump says she doesn't care for having to put together the holiday displays: "Who gives a fuck about Christmas stuff?" Discussing her frustration with critics who wanted her to do more about the administration's family separation policy, the First Lady said, "'Oh, what about the children that were separated?' Give me a fucking break."

The recording was provided to the network as part of Winston Wolkoff's press tour for her book detailing her close friendship and falling out with the First Lady, which occurred as part of the scandal surrounding questionable spending during Trump's inauguration.

Though the First Lady has largely managed to stay out of the campaign spotlight, the audio is an inconvenient contrast to the president's annual grumbling about the "war on Christmas." And while Melania appears to be complaining about her lack of options in the face of criticism surrounding child separation, it's unlikely to win over anyone who was outraged by her decision to wear a jacket with an openly callous message on her 2018 trip to the border.

Matt Stieb, The Intelligencer, New York Mag, October 1, 2020
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October 4, 2020

Voices4America Post Script. With so much happening since Thursday, you may have missed Melania "Who gives a Fuck about Christmas" Trump at her charming best! Here is your chance!

Won't Jill Biden bring honorto the White House! #VoteEarly @BidenHarris2020