We know that Trump‘s White House lacks a far bit of organisational nous – which could either be a subtle plot to destroy the establishment, or just the fact that everyone working there sucks at their jobs – but now it’s the children who suffer.
The annual White House Easter Egg Roll is an inexplicable 138-year-old tradition in which local children race each other to push an egg through the grass with a long-handled spoon. I dunno, Americans are weird – but it’s one of the highest profile events held at the White House, and it is heavily scrutinised by egg roll nerds.
Melinda Bates, who organised Bill Clinton’s egg roll eight times, says that “it’s the single most high-profile event that takes place at the White House each year, and the White House and the first lady are judged on how well they put it on.”
Apparently, the current vibe is that Trump’s first egg roll is an ORGANISATIONAL DEBACLE.
Disaster is brewing. The supplier behind the wooden eggs frequently used in the proceedings tweeted basically the entire First Family in some kind of eggy panic, asking when they’d be reaching out to make it all happen.
@FLOTUS @realDonaldTrump @POTUS @MELANIATRUMP @IvankaTrump FYI manufacturing deadlines for the Easter eggs are near. Please reach out! pic.twitter.com/D78YqWVPBi
— Wells Wood Turning (@WellsTurning) February 20, 2017
Public schools in the Washington D.C. – who are usually allocated up to 4,000 tickets total for the event – have apparently heard nothing from the Trump camp. Ditto for military families, who usually get a few thousand tickets allocated too. “Unfortunately, the Trump administration has not reached out about it,” Ashley Broadway-Mack, the president of the American Military Partner Association said.
The New York Times points out that this is likely to be a much smaller, jankier affair thanks to the White House’s shitty planning:
The evidence points to a quickly thrown-together affair that people close to the planning said would probably draw about 20,000 people — substantially smaller than last year’s Easter Egg Roll, which drew 37,000 — and be staffed by 200 volunteers, one-fifth of the usual number,” writes The New York Times.
Sad! Sad! Apparently much of the collapse of proceedings comes from the fact that this is usually manned by the First Lady – who doesn’t seem to have a great deal of experience in organising anything, and does not live in Washington at all. Truly, this is sickening to the core.
For the record, Stephanie Grisham, Melania Trump’s communications director, told the Times, “Plans for the Easter Egg Roll are well underway, and the White House looks forward to hosting it.”
We’ll see.
Source: Salon.
Photo: Getty Images.
