A religious group led by the head of Donald Trump’s White House Faith Office has resorted to promoting bulk buys of the Melania Trump documentary to improve its performance.
The National Faith Advisory Board, whose president is Paula White-Cain, has sent out emails encouraging group ticket sales and even private screenings of the movie, according to a report by Meidas News.
“The film has moments that are funny, serious, and sad and also provides a glimpse at the history making process of transferring the White House from one First Family to another!” read one email, which also urged fans to post photographs of themselves attending the movie with the hashtag #BreakTheBoxOffice.
The link to buy tickets provides two options: theater buyouts for groups of more than 30 people, or small groups of under that amount. For the former, requests are submitted through an Amazon domain. Amazon spent $75 million to purchase and promote the movie.
Buying a private viewing means all seats in the theater are paid for and thus unavailable to anyone outside the group, but it does not necessarily mean each seat in the theater is physically occupied. Private viewings “typically range from $1,500–$3,000," according to the website.
Melania brought in $7 million in its opening weekend—a stronger-than-expected number for a political documentary, but still far from enough to surpass its cost. Its reviews, meanwhile, have by and large been terrible, with many likening it to an infomercial.
White-Cain, Trump’s spiritual adviser whose support dates back to his 2016 campaign, has led the White House Faith Office for nearly a year. Trump had established that office purportedly to “bring religion back” and to “protect Christians.”
When Trump named the 59-year-old televangelist to that role last February, though, some Trump supporters took issue with her promoting “prosperity theology,” the notion that true faith brings success and material wealth.
“Even though President Trump is enforcing laws that line up with our values, that doesn’t mean he has any clue what biblical Christianity is or why it matters,” Christian podcast host John Mason wrote on X at the time. “Paula White is a known heretic and known false teacher who has no regard for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
White also drew criticism in 2020 for speaking in tongues and claiming that “demonic confederacies” were trying to steal that year’s presidential election from Trump.
More recently, White, who is married to Jonathan Cain of the band Journey, said it was women’s role to “submit” to men.
The National Faith Advisory Board did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
