Philly Inquirer Apologizes for Asking if Melania Is First ‘Sexy’ First Lady

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Donald and Melania Trump at the 2011 Vanity Fair Oscars party. (Getty)

The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper is apologizing for a tweet and headline in which it asked readers whether Melania Trump was the first “sexy” First Lady.

“The headline and tweet were inappropriate. We’ve changed the headline on the column to better reflect the message,” the newspaper wrote on January 22.

The headline was originally on a column by the newspaper’s fashion columnist, who, the newspaper said in a tweet, “wrote favorably on FLOTUS’s fashion sense, noting that she brings elegance + sex appeal to the White House.”

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Melania Trump at the Inaugural Ball dance wearing Hervé Pierre. (Getty)

In case people didn’t get the point, the newspaper tweeted, “We apologize for insensitive language on a tweet about Melania Trump.”

The tweet that sparked the apology is generating outrage on Twitter, with a lot of the umbrage directed at the Philly newspaper over its implied dis of outgoing First Lady Michelle Obama (not to mention all of the others).

People on Twitter posted photos of Michelle Obama to bolster the point.

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Others wanted the focus on women’s looks to stop. Melania’s fashion choices, of course, were highly scrutinized (and mostly praised) during the inauguration of her husband. She is unique among first ladies in having been a former fashion model before marrying Trump. She is also the first First Lady to have posed naked for modeling photos.

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A lot of people were upset about the tweet.

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The newspaper’s fashion columnist, Elizabeth Wellington, wrote of Melania’s inaugural ball gown and appearance, “But unlike any first lady before her, Trump kicked off her first ladyship fully embracing her sexy. She and President Trump slow-danced to Frank Sinatra’s classic version of “My Way” (he in yet another ill-fitting suit; please, somebody help him), and she looking like a beauty queen dancing – albeit awkwardly – with her king.”

Some people felt there was a racial component to the issue.

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