Ivanka Trump's Getting Called Out For "Copying" Michelle Obama & It's So Brutal
Did you know knockoffs extended to the political arena? Ivanka Trump seems to have added a new pet project to her agenda: healthy children. And though keeping America's youth healthy should be a high priority, people are finding some major unoriginality in the first daughter's plan. They are calling out Ivanka Trump's tweet about "healthy lifestyles" with some original tweets of their own.
In an April 8 tweet, Trump decided that America should be promoting healthier lifestyles for children, stating that a high volume of our country's children have never participated in an athletic sport or activity. On the surface, it seems like Trump is just pointing out a disturbing fact that the American people need to keep in mind. After all, she is a mother of three young children, and so it's only natural that it would be on her mind.
Trump wrote,
We need to promote healthy lifestyles for America’s youth. In a recent survey, 9.5 million U.S. children reported that they did NOT once participate in any of over 100 sports or activities listed.#YouthSports@AspenInstitute
Pretty harmless. Except that's the message is exactly what Michelle Obama aimed to do with her "Let's Move!" initiative. Twitter users noticed that fact straight away and were not going to let Trump off the hook for "stealing" Obama's plan.
Obama's "Let's Move!" plan looked to solve childhood obesity and keep the pattern from spreading. Launched in 2010, its main focus was strategizing and coming up with programs to make sure that America's children were learning about healthy lifestyles, eating healthier, and being more active. It was probably the one issue Obama was best known for and really worked hard on while President Barack Obama was in office. Obama said of the initiative,
In the end, as the first lady, this isn't just a policy issue for me. This is a passion. This is my mission. I am determined to work with folks across the country to change the way a generation of kids thinks about food and nutrition.
So you see the similarities, right?
Sure it's just a tweet, but it looks like Trump might be getting ready to start her own "Let's Move!" type of initiative. But does she know that President Donald Trump might not be on the same "healthy" page, and has done quite a few things that aren't aligned with his daughter's tweet?
The President’s Council on Fitness, Sport, and Nutrition was established under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 2017 it celebrated its 60th anniversary. However, under President Trump, it's not up and running, really. In February, President Trump expanded the number of council members from 25 to 30, but has yet to appoint anyone. If you head on over to the council's website, under "Council Co-Chairs" and "Council Members" you will find it says "To be announced..." So helpful.
In fact, one of the former members appointed under President Obama, Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, was one of the people to call out Trump for her tweet. He wrote,
Ummm...there’s this thing called the President’s Council on Fitness, Sport, and Nutrition. Been around 60 years. Used to have 25 appointees...I was one of them. @MichelleObama helped & generated momentum in this area. No one is on the Council now. @FitnessGov. Check it out.
So the council vital in progressing Ivanka Trump's future plans for healthy youth is apparently now devoid of members. And also, in May 2017, the Trump administration rolled back Michelle Obama's school lunch plan that set high nutrition standards.
Under the Trump administration lunch program— set to "make Lunches Great Again —" put forth by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, schools are exempt from turning to a strictly whole-grain rich menu, it postpones sodium restrictions, and allows schools to serve one percent or flavored milks (that could be saturated with sugar).
Given that everything President Trump has done so far in regards to children's healthy lifestyles seems pretty contradictory to what Ivanka Trump tweeted, she probably should have addressed that before anything else. Also, can we send her some "Let's Move!" literature? I am sure it would be greatly appreciated.
