Marla Maples Says She Chooses ‘Love’ Not ‘Fear’ in Mask Photo on Flight to See Daughter Tiffany Trump

Marla Maples opted to put “love” over “fear” as she boarded a plane over the weekend to visit family amid the coronavirus pandemic. While Maples did not specify who she was visiting, it is assumed she was traveling to see her daughter, Tiffany Trump, who recently graduated from Georgetown Law School with a virtual commencement ceremony on May 16. Later in the day, Maples had shared a photo to her Instagram Story of herself in a car with her daughter’s rescue cat Petals, tagging both Trump and her daughter’s boyfriend, Michael Boulo, according to the Daily Mail.

Captioning the Sunday photo, which showed her sitting in a plane with a face mask, Maples wrote that she was choosing “love” and that she does “not choose fear.” She added that she “will walk (and fly) in trust, faith, peace and knowing.” Quoting the Bible verse Romans 8:31 she wrote, “If God is for us who can be against us… no one” and said that she was “grateful to be joining family on this beautiful day.”

Maples’ post generated a flurry of responses. While many were happy to see her out and about, the post gaining positive comments from Kathy Hilton, soap star Tracey Bregman, and James Van Der Beek’s wife Kimberly, many others were angered that she opted to travel amid the pandemic for something that was not considered essential. In one such criticism, someone pointed out that Maples had been in New York City, considered the epicenter of the coronavirus in the United States, prior to her travels, writing that “everyone wants to travel, that can, but we are not because it is still not really safe” and that “no one should be traveling unless it is absolutely necessary.” Somebody else commented that “no God is going to protect you or anyone on a flight,” slamming Maples, as she “had a choice to refuse flying during a pandemic… you chose to fly.”

Although coronavirus-related lockdowns have been lifted, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) isn’t encouraging people to jump on a plane just yet. According to the CDC, “staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others from getting sick” and air travel “may increase your risk for exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19” due to the difficulty of social distancing in security lines, airport terminals, and on airplanes.