A fake quote about first lady Melania Trump attributed to designer Tom Ford went viral on Tuesday.
In a now-deleted tweet, user fras99 wrote that the fashion giant “refuses to dress Melania Trump: ‘I have no interest in dressing a glorified escort who steals speeches and has bad taste in men.’”
Fras99 did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why the user posted the tweet, but a spokeswoman for Ford quashed the sentiment.
“This is an absolutely fabricated and completely fake quote attributed to Mr. Ford that has somehow gone viral. Mr. Ford did not make this statement; it is completely false,” said the spokeswoman in a statement to HuffPost.
However, before Ford could weigh in, the tweet and his name went viral. Supporters of both the designer and FLOTUS tweeted up a storm.
Even Rapper 50 Cent shared the tweet on Instagram.
Many Twitter users shared footage of Ford during an appearance on “The View” in 2016, when he spoke much more kindly about dressing Trump.
“I was asked to dress her quite a few years ago, and I declined,” he said. “She’s not necessarily my image. ... Even had Hillary [Clinton] won, she shouldn’t be wearing my clothes. They’re too expensive. I don’t mean that in a bad way, and they’re not artificially expensive. It’s how much it costs to make these things. But I think to relate to everybody, you shouldn’t ...” He trailed off amid cross-talk.
When co-host Joy Behar pointed out that former first lady Michelle Obama wore expensive clothes, he said he dressed her one time, for a high-profile visit to Buckingham Palace in London for dinner with Queen Elizabeth.
“That I thought was appropriate. I live in London, so that makes sense,” said Ford.
Asked by Behar whether he thinks Trump should wear expensive clothes, he simply said, “I’m going to leave that to Melania.”