Bette Midler sparks outrage after xenophobic tweets mocking Melania Trump’s accent: ‘Get that illegal alien off the stage’

A string of offensive tweets from the veteran actor were branded ‘xenophobic’ and ‘immoral’

Bette Midler has faced criticism after mocking US first lady Melania Trump’s accent on social media.

The veteran actor made the remarks while Melania appeared on the second night of the Republican National Convention, delivering a speech from the White House’s Rose Garden.

“Oh, God. She still can’t speak English,” Midler tweeted while the speech was taking place.

She then tweeted: “#beBest is back! A UGE bore! She can speak several words in a few languages. Get that illegal alien off the stage!”

Midler also wrote: “You are one lucky Slovenian! And after all that surgery, you hit a kind of horrible jackpot, chained to [a] colossal idiot.”

The award-winning singer’s comments were met with backlash from people across the political spectrum, with many describing her comments as “xenophobic”.

One commenter wrote: “This is beyond gross @BetteMidler and I am no fan of the First Lady. You have become what you think you are ‘resisting’.”

Someone else said: “Shame on you. Attacking an immigrant for speaking with an accent is truly immoral.”

(Left) Bette Midler, star of stage and screen, and (right) US first lady Melania Trump (Getty)

Another wrote: “She’s on her fifth language, Bette. I’m not nearly as good in my fifth as I am in English. How’s your first language doing?”

“While I loathe Trump, it’s interesting to see that some on the left in the US seem to think that racism and xenophobia are perfectly fine when directly towards people you don’t like,” wrote another Twitter user.

Trump moved to the US legally in 1996, becoming a citizen in 2006, one year after marrying Donald Trump.

Her Rose Garden speech saw her express support for her husband’s re-election in the forthcoming presidential race.