Melania Makes Rare Public Statement After Trump Shooting
The former First Lady urged Americans to “ascend above the hate” after an attempt on her husband’s life.
Melania Trump has kept a noticeably low profile during Donald Trump’s campaign for president, staying away from his trial and rallies while holding just a couple private fundraisers. But she broke her silence Sunday following an assassination attempt on her husband, posting a very lengthy statement to X, formerly known as Twitter. Despite being 12 paragraphs long, the statement — addressed to “fellow Americans” — only mentions Trump twice and focuses on urging Americans to unite and “ascend above the hate.”
Melania writes that when gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks’s “violent bullet” grazed Trump’s right ear, she “realized my life, and Barron’s life, were on the brink of devastating change.” She adds that Crooks disregarded Trump’s humanity, seeing him only as a politician.
— MELANIA TRUMP (@MELANIATRUMP) July 14, 2024
“A monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine attempted to ring out Donald’s passion — his laughter, ingenuity, love of music, and inspiration,” she writes. “The core facets of my husband’s life — his human side — were buried below the political machine. Donald, the generous and caring man who I have been with through the best of times and the worst of times.”
Melania went on to encourage Americans to put their political leanings aside, saying they shouldn’t “forget that differing opinions, policy, and political games are inferior to love.” She asked Americans to “remember that when the time comes to look beyond the left and the right, beyond the red and the blue, we all come from families with the passion to fight for a better life together, while we are here, in this earthly realm.”
The wording of the statement came off as repetitive, vague, and robotic to some, who speculated whether Melania used ChatGPT or another AI tool to write it. It wouldn’t be the first time people wondered if a statement from the former First Lady was really in her words: In April 2023, a vague statement addressing rumors that she was angry with her husband for being indicted sparked similar questions about the use of AI, and in 2016, she gave a speech at the Republican National Convention that was eerily similar to one Michelle Obama gave eight years earlier.
Melania thanked the Secret Service for protecting her husband and ended her statement praising “those of you who have reached out beyond the political divide” for “remembering that every single politician is a man or a woman with a loving family.”
First Lady Jill Biden also reportedly spoke with Melania on Sunday evening, according to ABC News, although no further details on what they talked about were available. Melania will also make a rare public appearance this week when she attends the RNC with her husband — although in a break from party tradition, it doesn’t look like she’ll give a speech.
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