Melania Trump v. Jill Biden in a festive face-off! Daily Mail poll reveals which first lady’s Christmas decor REALLY brought more holiday cheer to the White House
Whether it’s Melania Trump’s blood-red trees or Jill Biden’s video that has been compared to The Hunger Games, White House Christmas decorations are always a source of controversy.
Holiday design has been a primary responsibility of first ladies for decades, and is often adored or derided, depending on the president’s political party.
This year, DailyMail.com decided to put the issue before voters without telling them whether the Democratic or Republican first lady was behind the idea.
Scroll down to see results
Option 1: Americans were asked to rate the first ladies’ Christmas decorations in a blind test: The first option shows trees hung with simple white garlands and decorated with white and pearl lights.
Option 2: The second option includes trees decorated with white lights and red bulbs. The tree stands were decorated with tartan and plaid.
Pollsters at JL Partners asked 1,000 Americans to choose their favorite from two sets of decorations that were installed at different times in Cross Hall, a hallway on the first floor of the White House.
Vote
Which set of White House Christmas decorations is your favorite?
- Option 1 2 votes
- Option 2 0 votes
The choice was between Melania’s 2020 design and Jill’s this year, but respondents were asked to make their choice blind.
The first option shows trees hung with simple white lights and decorated with white and pearl bulbs, with tufts of fake snow at their feet.
A large nutcracker peeks out from the White House dining room, and Santa’s reindeer are attached to the ceiling.
The second option that Americans were asked to evaluate included the trees are decorated with white lights and red bulbs.
The tree stands featured tartan and checks.
Another majestic tree can be seen in the hallway off the State Dining Hall.
Both Trump and Biden have been criticized and praised in equal measure for their actions ahead of the holidays.
But the response is often tainted by how much party critics support it.
When asked to make a choice based solely on jewelry, the results were surprising.
Melania Trump decorated the East Colonnade with dramatic white fronds in 2017, her first year as First Lady. A photo shoot of her walking down a hallway in a white bell-shaped dress was turned into a meme and called creepy.
Melania Trump’s red topiary, made from berries, has been criticized for resembling her signature costume from The Handmaid’s Tale.
Over the past two years, the Bidens have hung stockings at the White House for six of their seven grandchildren, but never for their seventh grandchild, Navy Joan. There were no stockings at the Christmas display this year.
The winner of the DailyMail.com poll on the design of the hall was the second option, developed by Melania.
54 percent of respondents said they preferred her trinkets to the ones Jill came up with in the first version.
Republicans who may have been drawn to all the red liked them the most, with 57 percent of Republicans choosing Trump and 43 percent saying Biden.
But Trump even had a slim majority of Democrats say she did it better.
A DailyMail.com poll found that 51 percent of Democrats liked Trump’s decor, compared with 49 percent who said Biden.
Biden was most liked by Americans over 65 years of age. Among this demographic, 53 percent voted for Biden and 47 percent voted for Trump.
Joe Alder, a senior fellow at JL Partners, noted that while it was close, “the public verdict was clear: Melania Trump brought the best Christmas decor to the White House.”
“Remarkably, Melania demonstrated a particularly keen sense of the tastes of her husband’s political base: Republicans preferred her awards by a 15-point margin, while Democrats agreed but only by a one-point margin,” Alder said. “Jill Biden’s awards appealed more to older Americans – the only group she won with – but overall it was Melania who had a feel for the nation’s tastes.”
In 2017, when Trump decorated the East Colonnade with dramatic white winter branches and was later photographed walking through it during a holiday viewing in a white bell-sleeve dress, the images were described as “eerie” and “nightmarish.”
The same space gave her some problems the following year when Trump displayed crimson berry topiaries along the hallway on the green carpet.
First Lady Melania Trump’s 2020 Cross Hall decorations topped First Lady Jill Biden’s Cross Hall decorations this year by eight points. Trump gained support among Republicans, but also won against Democrats by a slim majority.
Redwoods have been described as looking like blood or resembling the trademark costume from The Handmaid’s Tale.
The Bidens have received some criticism for displaying stockings with their grandchildren’s names on them, but never for Hunter’s daughter with Landen Roberts, Navy Joan.
The Bidens welcomed their seventh grandchild earlier this year, but there were no stockings at this year’s Christmas display.
However, there was a video performance by a New York City tap dance troupe that online conservatives called bizarre, bizarre and absolute trash.
In a blind assessment of the two first ladies’ Christmas decorations, Trump emerged victorious, 54 percent to 46 percent.