Melania Trump ramps up her campaign presence by raising questions about the attack on her husband, 2020 election results
By Daniel Strauss and Kate Sullivan, CNN
(CNN) — Former first lady Melania Trump has begun inching more back into the political spotlight on the final few months of the 2024 presidential campaign with a series of politically pointed social media videos.
The former first lady has made a rare deliberate step back into the national political discourse this week, including Tuesday when she posted a video on X in which she questioned some of the circumstances surrounding the assassination attempt against her husband over the summer.
“I can’t help but wonder, why didn’t law enforcement officials arrest the shooter before the speech?” the former first lady said in the 34-second clip in which she talks directly to the camera. “There is definitely more to this story, and we need to uncover the truth.”
It’s not clear what questions in particular the former first lady is focused on. Her office did not respond to a request for comment.
The clip was the latest in a small series of posts the former first lady had shared to promote her upcoming memoir, “Melania,” set to release on October 8.
On Sunday, her X account posted a short video narrated by the former first lady in which she made a rare statement about the 2020 election results.
“The 2020 election results change our lives forever. It impacted our quality of life, cost of food, gasoline, safety and even the geopolitical landscape. 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,” she said in a new video posted to X on that included a link to pre-order her memoir.
The memoir itself is an exception to a pattern Melania Trump has largely stuck to for the 2024 presidential cycle, as former President Donald Trump has been running to become president again. The former first lady has opted against the traditional amount of campaigning for a spouse of a major-party political candidate. She made a brief appearance at Trump’s campaign kickoff in late 2022 at Mar-a-Lago, she joined the former president to vote in the Florida presidential primary, and she headlined a fundraiser for the Log Cabin Republicans in New York in early July. In April she attended a fundraiser with her husband hosted by investor John Paulson.
At the Republican National Convention, Melania Trump did not deliver a speech but appeared on stage during the final night of the convention.
A day after the attempted assassination attempt on the former president in Butler, Pennsylvania, she released a short two-page statement calling for unity.
“This morning, ascend above the hate, the vitriol, and the simple-minded ideas that ignite violence,” Melania Trump wrote in the July 14 statement. “We all want a world where respect is paramount, family is first, and love transcends. We can realize this world again. Each of us must demand to get it back. We must insist that respect fills the cornerstone of our relationships, again.”
It’s not unusual for former presidents and spouses to largely fade from public view post-presidency but spouses of nominees for president usually embrace visibility to boost their partner’s chances.
The former first lady’s choice public appearances and statements suggest that she does so only when she feels something is especially important, said Republican strategist Tricia McLaughlin.
“It seems she speaks up and chooses to be more publicly visible when she feels truly passionate about something – the Republican Log Cabin events, her husband’s convention acceptance speech and first (statement) after he was nearly killed, and now the matter of transparency surrounding the attempted assassination investigation,” McLaughlin said.
Melania Trump’s more recent public appearances have been to highlight her upcoming memoir. Aides and allies of the former first lady stress she’s selective in how she appears in public and is focused on raising her son, Barron. Those aides and allies have also said she still fully supports her husband’s candidacy. Even so, Melania Trump herself has repeatedly described herself as a private person.
Still, the recent posts were more direct than most of the former first lady’s deliberate public forays.
On her website, the book is described as “the powerful and inspiring story of a woman who has defined personal excellence, overcome adversity, and carved her own path” and that it “includes stories and images never before shared with the public.”
The-CNN-Wire
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