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Tim Matheson mocks Melania Trump, praises Jill Biden saying it's nice to have a First Lady who 'can speak English'

After deleting the offending tweet, Matheson wrote on Twitter: 'This morning I made a hasty and stupid joke about the former First Lady'

On Friday, January 22, American actor and filmmaker Tim Matheson took a potshot at former First Lady Melania Trump while praising her successor Dr. Jill Biden in a now-deleted tweet. The actor, best known for playing Eric ‘Otter’ Stratton in ‘National Lampoon's Animal House’ and of Vice President John Hoynes in ‘The West Wing’, wrote on the social media platform, “So wonderful to have a First Lady with class and heart. And, can speak English!”

The tweet was in response to an NBC News video about Dr Jill Biden visiting National Guard troops stationed outside the US Capitol. The First Lady was there to deliver them cookies from the White House. The stop, not part of her official schedule, came after some troops who were guarding the Capitol building had been forced to take their breaks in an underground parking garage. "I just wanted to come today to say thank you to all of you for keeping me and my family safe. I know that you left your home states,” she said, addressing troops stationed outside the capital.

Matheson’s tweet soon courted outrage. A Twitter user said, “I think Dr. Biden would be the first person to denounce this comment. Apologize”. Matheson responded with, “I apologize for a stupid joke, which was tasteless and without humor.” Further, after deleting the offending tweet, Matheson wrote on Twitter, “This morning I made a hasty and stupid joke about the former First Lady.  It wasn't funny, and it was in poor taste. It was regretful and humorless and I apologize.”

But many pointed out that just hours before, he had defended this very “humor”. When David J Shafer, the chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, wrote how he never expected Matheson, “whose work l have always enjoyed, to be so openly bigoted against an immigrant who learned English as a second language,” the actor had said, “Comedy is sometimes cruelly honest. The ex-First Lady doesn’t have any of my respect for anything. Sorry.”

Matheson was slammed for this tweet by many others, who criticized him for mocking Melania Trump’s accent. His apology was also criticized for being the result of a backlash. Matheson has for a while been extremely critical of the Republican Party on Twitter. He wrote recently how “The GOP was, is, and continues being a Terrorist Organization.” He also said, “The GOP supports violent White Supremacists.  They are a worse threat than foreign extremism."

But Matheson's contempt for Trump is not a recent one. In 2016, the actor who portrayed Ronald Reagan on 'Killing Reagan' said of Trump: "[Reagan] would be pretty much like the mainstream GOP and the Bush family. They don’t really appreciate the fact, that [Trump] is not a real person. He’s a greedy, venal businessman who has never done anything for anyone."

"The basis of Ronald Reagan was his humanity," said Matheson then. "I might not have agreed with his politics, but my research — all I read about him, and by him — was that he was revered because he had a big heart. He was very religious and sincere. He believed that one spoke truths because otherwise, people would know you were lying. None of that even applies to Trump. I don’t know if the man knows the difference between the truth or any of his voluminous lies. He’s a travesty."