Jacket worn by first lady Melania Trump creates firestorm of controversy

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Pa. (WTXF) - It's a tale of two jackets. first lady Melania Trump wore a white one while visiting Texas Thursday. But, it's the green jacket that has people talking.

The controversy has to do with a message on the back of her jacket. Was it a fashion choice, or did it have a deeper meaning?

A firestorm of controversy over a trench coat. first lady Melania Trump in the coat with the words "I really don't care. Do you?" on the back while traveling to visit children in a detention center. Those children are separated from their parents over the issue of immigration.

"It just seems rude. I don't know. Do you care? I can't really put it into words but it just didn't really seem appropriate," said Linda Valentine. The first lady wearing a different jacket inside the center at the U.S.-Mexico border.

But many say that doesn't change the message sent out by wearing the coat.

"Everything you do is in the public eye so you have to think about what you're doing, what you're saying, what you're putting out there and all the issues that are going on right now and that doesn't really help," said Christina Evans. Jeff Jubelirer is with Bellevue Communications Group in Philadelphia.

"Everything communicates so when she wears a coat that has that language on it, it reflects so poorly on what she and the administration is trying to impart on such an important topic. it's really tone deaf," he said. Jubelirer also says it's hard to believe anyone on the first lady's public relations staff would allow it.

"She certainly has smart people around her so it's one of two things. One, she's not listening or two she beats to her own drum and she doesn't even let her own people know what's going on," he said. Others say the coat from the designer Zara is just a coat.

"I don't know why she did it but I think her heart is in the right place and she's doing the right thing," said Bill Hillman. Teresa Hillman agrees. "I think it's her words, what she said and what she's doing that matters more than a piece of clothing that she's wearing," she said.

A spokesperson for the first lady tweeted:

President Trump also tweeted: