When she found out about the attack on Donald Trump, she ran to the television. This is how Melania Trump describes it in her first interview in years.
She was a phantom. Melania Trump hasn’t given an interview for more than two years. The former first lady was present at the Republican convention at which her husband Donald Trump was nominated as a presidential candidate for the third time, but did not speak. Now she has broken her silence to market a new book – and to campaign for her husband. “I support him,” she said right at the start of the conversation on Fox News. “I know how passionate he is about making America great again.”
The 54-year-old has chosen safe territory for her return to the spotlight. “Fox & Friends” is Fox News’ breakfast television and host Ainsley Earhardt is considered Trump-friendly. About twelve minutes of the interview were broadcast on Thursday, and the full conversation will be shown in a one-hour special program on Sunday.
Melania Trump describes, among other things, how she experienced the assassination attempts on her husband. When she heard about the shooting in Pennsylvania in July, she “ran to the television.” They saw him on the ground and didn’t know “what really happened.” Immediately afterwards, she couldn’t reach her husband by phone and only found out a little later from the Secret Service that Donald Trump was fine.
Talking to her son Barron about the attack was particularly difficult. “He was outside playing sports, rushed in and it was very, very difficult,” Melania Trump said. The former First Lady described the fact that her husband survived the two attack attempts as a “miracle.” And added: “He could, you know, he could no longer be with us.”
The marriage between Donald and Melania Trump has raised questions for years
The relationship between Donald and Melania Trump has been considered a mystery for years. Videos repeatedly went viral on social media in which the former model physically distanced herself from her husband during public appearances and, for example, rejected his hand after he tried to grab hers. It’s not just in the gossip media that people repeatedly speculate whether and when Melania Trump might file for divorce – but that never happened.
The fact that she is now giving such an interview and putting herself at the service of her husband in the final stretch of the election campaign is important for Donald Trump. According to surveys, it is not particularly well received by female voters. Kind words from the previously silent wife come at just the right time.
Especially since Melania Trump unintentionally found herself in the public eye this spring, at least indirectly. In the so-called hush money trial in New York, former porn actress Stormy Daniels testified about how she had sex with Donald Trump on the sidelines of a golf tournament in 2006.
Trump and Daniels initially talked for about two hours. He wanted to know from Daniels whether she was regularly tested for sexually transmitted diseases and whether she slept with the other actors off camera. He then showed Daniels a picture of his wife Melania and assured her that she would not sleep in the same room. Finally, there was sex. At the time, Melania Trump was pregnant – a fact that even Joe Biden pointed out in his unsuccessful TV duel against Trump in July.
Melania Trump sounds almost like her husband
The former first lady did not accompany her husband to court. Political observers saw this as a kind of message that he would have to get through this scandal without their support. In an interview after the guilty verdict, Donald Trump said of Melania: “She’s doing well, but I think it’s very hard for her.” In many ways, the process was harder for his family than it was for him.
At least in the first excerpts, Melania Trump was not asked by Fox News about Stormy Daniels’ statements in the hush money trial – her relationship with Donald Trump also played no role. Politically, she is fully behind him in the final stretch of the election campaign. “The country is suffering,” said Melania Trump, “because people are unable to buy everyday necessities for their families.” Wars would take place all over the world and soldiers would die. The border is open and dangerous.
It almost sounded like Donald Trump was speaking.
