Melania Trump’s solo trip across Africa continued today with her departure from Malawi and a trip to Kenya, the place where she and her husband accused former President Barack Obama of having been born as part of a racist conspiracy theory.
Her primary stop was an elephant orphanage near the capital of Nairobi, where she immediately raised eyebrows around social media for her curious choice of garment — riding breeches, white shirt, and a colonial-style pith helmet that immediately evokes memories of Kenya’s former racist overlords.
why is she dressed like she’s about to exploit the belgian congo https://t.co/L11BpgMLrb
— molly conger (@socialistdogmom) October 5, 2018
She was taken to visit the remains of the ivory that had been seized from poachers and torched, the grim results of the horrifying illegal trade in elephant ivory that is driving the species towards extinction.
She did not choose to use the moment to criticize or even acknowledge the fact that her husband’s administration gave the ivory trade a huge boost with his decision to make it legal for American hunters to bring back ivory trophies from their safaris in Africa.
This is ash from ivory burns — a conservationist effort meant to discourage the ivory trade. The most recent burn was in 2016.
“It is sad to see this,” Melania Trump told her guide. pic.twitter.com/nXL4OAA7Ys
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) October 5, 2018
But the biggest surprise was at the elephant orphanage itself, where one of the baby elephants was anything but thrilled to see her, shoving her aside.
Melania Trump shoved by playful baby elephant pic.twitter.com/ENX005OMQp
— The Independent (@Independent) October 5, 2018
Perhaps the baby elephant could tell that Melania was not a friend to them or to the natural world in general.
