Not too many people were wondering “Where does Melania Trump stand on her husband’s incitement of a coup attempt?” But if you were one of them, here you go. Melania is out with a lengthy statement, the first paragraph of which is about COVID-19. Which, to be fair, remains a very significant problem! But is still an odd choice for opening a statement about a coup attempt incited by one’s husband.
Paragraph two: “As your First Lady, it has been inspiring to witness firsthand what the people of our great Nation will do for one another, especially when we are at our most vulnerable.”
Uhhh … well, there have also been some less inspiring things to witness the people of our great nation doing over the past week. Anything to say about that?
Paragraph four: “Most recently, my heart goes out to: Air Force Veteran, Ashli Babbit, Benjamin Philips, Kevin Greeson, Rosanne Boyland, and Capitol Police Officers, Brian Sicknick and Howard Liebengood. I pray for their families comfort and strength during this difficult time.” Note that the woman who was shot by police as she was part of a violent group attempting to enter a secured area comes first on this list. Interesting choice there.
Continuing on, “I am disappointed and disheartened with what happened last week.” Disappointed? Really? Some deep feeling there. “I find it shameful that surrounding these tragic events there has been salacious gossip, unwarranted personal attacks, and false misleading accusations on me—from people who are looking to be relevant and have an agenda.”
I’m sorry … what? A short paragraph for fatalities, a sentence of disappointment, and boom, it’s all about me. And salacious gossip? Speaking as a heavy consumer of news, the only thing I’ve seen about Melania in relation to the coup attempt is that she was involved in a photo shoot at the time. Salacious it’s not. Also, as she noted a paragraph earlier, people are dead. The feelings of one highly privileged person are not the story here.
”Our Nation must heal in a civil manner,” her statement continues. “Make no mistake about it, I absolutely condemn the violence that has occurred on our Nation’s Capitol. Violence is never acceptable.” You know one way to ensure that there’s no mistake about it? Lead with that. Don’t wait until the sixth paragraph to condemn violence.
Three paragraphs later, she kinda sorta acknowledges what the violence she’s condemning was about: “It is inspiring to see that so many have found a passion and enthusiasm in participating in an election, but we must not allow that passion to turn to violence. Our path forward is to come together, find our commonalities, and be the kind and strong people that I know we are.”
Oh, it’s inspiring, is it? Her husband’s refusal to admit that he lost an election fair and square led directly to a violent mob of domestic terrorists storming the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from formalizing the election results and the word “inspiring” somehow enters into her response in a way other than “I condemn those responsible (cough cough) for inspiring this violence.”
Blah blah blah more gauzy language about how wonderful and supportive of each other the American people are. Somehow she managed to write 600 words in which armed insurrection felt like an afterthought to “salacious gossip” about herself. But hey, she’s a Trump. What else can we expect?
