Melania Slams Effort to ‘Silence’ Trump on Social-Media Site He Owns
ByMargaret Hartmann,
senior editor for Intelligencer who has worked at New York since 2012
Photo: Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
What issues are on Melania Trump’s mind this election season? We know she’s passionate about encouraging gay Republicans to vote for her husband (when they pay her nearly a quarter of a million dollars to speak at their event). And she’s been working to ensure that Trump-aligned PACs use the right table settings at fundraising dinners (for a six-figure fee). But otherwise, the former First Lady’s political opinions are a mystery, as she skipped nearly every event in Donald Trump’s 2024 reelection campaign, then declined to give a speech at the Republican National Convention.
On Sunday, however, Melania decided to share some random musings about the state of our nation in a video posted to X, Instagram, and Truth Social, which is owned by a company in which her husband is a majority shareholder.
“The 2020 election results changed our lives forever,” Melania says in a voice over. Sure, major historical events tend to do that!
“It impacted our quality of life, cost of food, gasoline, safety, and even the geopolitical landscape,” she continues. Presumably Melania means the Joe Biden administration negatively impacted all these things, but she doesn’t share any observations she’s made about the cost of food and gasoline (she may not have many, since she rarely leaves Trump properties).
The 37-second video concludes:
America is more divided today than ever before. It has become increasingly apparent that there are significant challenges to free speech as demonstrated by the efforts to silence my husband.
Then there’s an abrupt cut to an all-white book, the cover of which reads “MELANIA.”
Though you wouldn’t know it from anything Melania said, this video is meant to promote the memoir she’s releasing on October 8. Last week, she posted another promotional spot in which she said, “I believe it is important to share my perspective: the truth.”
Much like the former First Lady herself, the book’s focus is a bit of a mystery. But apparently, from Melania’s perspective, one of the biggest issues facing our nation is the effort to keep her husband from exercising his First Amendment rights.
She’s probably referring to the gag order that’s still in place two months after Donald Trump’s conviction in the New York hush-money case, which bars him from publicly bashing prosecutors, court staffers, and their families. That means Trump is only allowed to attack Judge Juan Merchan, Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, witnesses, and jurors in his many press conferences, campaign rallies, interviews, calls to Fox News, posts to major social-media sites, and unhinged, sexist tirades on Truth Social. With Trump barely able to express himself, Melania knows Americans are all wondering, What is he thinking?
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