I’ll admit it: I liked the weird tap-dancing fantasy the White House staged for Christmas 2023. The dancing seemed impressive to my admittedly philistine knowledge of tap, and the costumes were fun and whimsical. Even if you didn’t like it, you had to admit the production value was quite high. In 2024, however, Jill Biden’s idea of a Winter Wonderland seems more like a Walmart-sponsored nightmare.
Despite an obvious attempt at decadence, the decorations still manage to feel cheap. The multicolored streamers-as-curtains are a nod to classic regatta stripes, the nautical, preppy style associated with elite New England rowing teams. But what the hell are they made of? You can see how the material crinkles and puckers rather than hanging luxuriously. These might actually be plastic streamers from Party City. (RELATED: Christmas Tree That Survived Historically Devastating Hurricane Can’t Survive Jill Biden)
Adornments can be seen on the frame of a door way leading to the Red Room where white paper doves carry messages of peace during the 2024 White House Holiday media preview in Washington, DC, on December 2, 2024. Drawings from children around the country to the President and First Lady are displayed throughout the room. Large, illuminated gift boxes are placed under the Red Room’s Christmas tree. US First Lady Jill Biden announced the 2024 White House Holiday theme: A “Season of Peace and Light”. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
Then you have the big, floppy Christmas tree. Contrast it to the tree in Rockefeller Center which invariably stands tall and proud, like a stern patriarch watching over the square. Jill’s tree is about as wide as it is tall, reflecting a father figure more like Brendan Fraser’s deadbeat character in “The Whale.” The droopy, flyaway branches are overcrowded with seemingly homemade ornaments, perhaps a “thank you” project from a kindergarten class that visited the White House.
Jill Biden has released photos of her circus-themed Christmas decorations.
Interesting how different her aesthetics are to @MELANIATRUMP.
Which do you prefer?
Melania vs. Jill pic.twitter.com/mdyQK0zFt2
— Bree A Dail (@breeadail) December 2, 2024
The carousel might be the worst, however, with animals that hearken back to the most nightmare-inducing holiday decorations of the Depression era and even more campy baubles.
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 02: A carousel surrounds the White House Christmas Tree during a media preview of the 2024 holiday decorations at the White House on December 02, 2024 in Washington, DC. The theme for this year’s White House holiday decorations is “Season of Peace and Light.” (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
One poster suggested 2024’s theme is what you’d get “if a group of circus clowns projectile vomited all over the White House.” I say, it’s what happens when you give a an uncultured lib an unlimited budget to put on a “fancy” Christmas.
Well, if the shoe fits …
