My best guess as to what was behind Melania's jacket yesterday.

[lapislzi]

22. I agree with you up to a point

She may well have chosen the jacket herself out of spite and all the other reasons you note. Her distaste for her unearned office is apparent. No argument from me.

But. She has an actual army of handlers and attendants whose job is presumably is to keep her from stepping in it. They can do nothing about her husband, the runaway train wreck in progress. But one would expect Melania's handlers to give that jacket a big no-no. They're hired to be savvy to optics. So she either overruled them, or they weren't bright enough to get out of their own way. They must know they're dealing with a very canny, ruthless woman (who is likely smarter than her husband, but equally bereft of principles).

My best guess is she told her own optics team to go fuck themselves. "i WILL wear this cheap and nasty jacket and there is fuck-all you can do about it. Spin it. Do your jobs."

What a demoralizing place that WH must be.