Former first lady Melania Trump has a memoir coming out on Tuesday. Her publisher hilariously describes it as a “compelling and inspirational memoir that offers a glimpse into the life of a remarkable woman who has navigated challenges with grace and determination.” Sure, whatever.
The real function of this memoir is as a vehicle for Melania to shop around her newfound commitment to abortion rights to any news organization gullible enough to believe she’s sincere. Everything about the book screams “rushed to market in the hopes it helps Trump get elected.”
The cover is just a blank black slab with “Melania” in the middle in a completely pedestrian all-cap font. The publisher is Skyhorse Publishing, and you’re forgiven if you’ve never heard of them. Their other new releases include such hot numbers as “Y’all Fired: A Southern Belle’s Guide to Restoring Federalism and Draining the Swamp;” “Emergency Home Preparedness: The Ultimate Guide for Bugging In During Natural Disasters, Pandemics, Civil Unrest, and More;” and “The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” which even features a forward by Steve Bannon.
The publisher’s “About Us” page has blurbs from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tucker Carlson, and Alan Dershowitz. In other words, it’s a dumping ground for right-wingers who can’t get a major publisher to pick up their book. Oh, and the publisher demanded a $250,000 licensing fee from CNN to interview Melania about the book, which they later walked back, declaring it an “internal miscommunication.”
The Guardian, which really should know better, published exclusive excerpts of Melania’s pro-choice musings, including such vague statements as “It is imperative to guarantee that women have autonomy in deciding their preference of having children, based on their own convictions, free from any intervention or pressure from the government.”
She also declared that “Restricting a woman’s right to choose whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy is the same as denying her control over her own body. I have carried this belief with me throughout my entire adult life.”
So, she’s carried this belief forever, but somehow this is the first time she’s ever talked about her deep and abiding belief in the right to an abortion. Besides the fact that this big reveal is conveniently timed to juice sales for her book, which is already, distressingly, the #2 seller on Amazon behind failed presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, it also comes at a time when her husband is desperately trying to obscure his hardline anti-choice stance.
Indeed, shortly after The Guardian published excerpts, Donald Trump went on Fox News to proclaim his support, saying, “We spoke about it, and I said, ‘You have to write what you believe. I’m not going to tell you what to do. You have to write what you believe.’” Donald Trump, famous champion of autonomy for women.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump stands on stage with former first lady Melania Trump during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum, July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee.
When asked about Melania’s newfound love of choice, all Sen. JD Vance could muster was that she was “entitled to her own views” before immediately pivoting to talking about securing the border. Notably, when Melania went on Fox News, she was not asked about abortion at all.
Meanwhile, Trump biographer and New York Times writer Maggie Haberman went on “The Daily” to praise Donald Trump and preserve her own access should he be elected in 2024. Haberman said Trump “would welcome” Melania’s pro-choice stance and it would “make him happy.” This is, to put it charitably, nonsense.
Trump has bragged about nominating the three Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. He was the first sitting president to attend the March for Life, an annual rally and march against the legality of abortion. There, he spoke about how, since his first day in office, he has worked to “protect the unborn” and “would veto any legislation that weakens pro-life policies or that encourages the destruction of human life.”
Even if one pretends that Melania is sincere here, her timing is way off. She had an entire four years to speak her truth on this or to try to stop Trump from gutting reproductive rights. Even Haberman was forced to admit that “It is not something that former White House advisers remember her talking about in either direction, pro or con.” Imagine that.
US First Lady Melania Trump departs Andrews Air Rorce Base in Maryland June 21, 2018 wearing a jacket emblazoned with the words "I really don't care, do you?" following her surprise visit with child migrants on the US-Mexico border.
Indeed, it’s hard to remember precisely what Melania was doing while Trump was in office. There was “Be Best,” her vague children’s issues initiative, which CNN described as existing “without specific policy or legislation goals.” There was the “I really don’t care, do you?” jacket she wore to visit a migrant facility housing children separated from their parents. There was her horrible revamp of the Rose Garden.
Her initiatives pale in comparison to other first ladies. Hillary Clinton developing a comprehensive health care plan this was not. Even Laura Bush’s literacy efforts were more, well, effortful. Whatever it was she was doing, it certainly wasn’t advocating on behalf of pro-choice efforts.
As journalist Dan Savage pointed out on X, this sort of thing has been a habit for Republican wives, who are routinely trotted out to say vaguely pro-choice things while their husbands dismantle reproductive rights. Only one of them—Betty Ford—was ever willing to stand up for abortion rights while in the White House. Otherwise, much like Melania, GOP wives kept their pro-choice thoughts to themselves, revealing it only after it was too late for them to have any real influence.
None of those past statements, however, have been as cynical as the Trump campaign deploying Melania to offset the virulently anti-choice stance of the Trump/Vance ticket.
The bottom line is that Trump is like the dog who caught the car; he succeeded in eliminating the constitutional right to abortion, and now he has no idea what to do. He’s incapable of actually changing his stance because he’d lose the support of his base.
So instead, we get Melania, who has been largely absent from the campaign trail unless she’s paid to show up, pretending that she’s a champion for choice. No one can stop her from lying about this, but no one should fall for it. And with abortion access only getting more limited, we don’t have time for these stupid distractions.
