Ms. Wintour pretended Mrs. Trump did not exist: “Well, I think First Lady Michelle Obama really was so incredible in every decision she made about fashion,” she said. “She was the best ambassador that this country could possibly have in many ways, obviously, way beyond fashion.”

Ms. McElvoy tried to return to Mrs. Trump: “But she’s not the First Lady now. So what about the one you’ve got now?”

Ms. Wintour replied that Mrs. Obama “is the example that I admire.”

What an opportunity for Mrs. Obama to show that she meant what she tweeted about diversity. Does she see its beauty in Mrs. Trump? Can the former first lady overlook her feelings toward President Trump to give much-deserved credit to the current first lady—a woman who came from a tough background, carved out a place for herself in a highly competitive and unforgiving industry and learned to speak six languages along the way?