After the assassination - The return of Melania Trump
The list of places where Melania Trump was not seen in the past few weeks and months is long. During her husband Donald Trump's presidential campaign year, she was hardly present where one would have normally expected to find her.
Melania Trump was hardly visible in public
Melania Trump was never the First Lady who craved the spotlight during Donald Trump's presidency. Laughter and ridicule poured over her public and cold appearances. Legendary was the swatted hand of hers that she had pushed away when he reached for her. But in the past months, she had completely vanished from public view.
After the assassination attempt: Melania Trump makes a comeback
Until now, until the assassination attempt on her husband. Will she now play a role in the campaign and if so, what will it be?
It was at least a surprisingly heartfelt statement that Melania Trump released into the world on Sunday after the shooting of her husband. "When I saw the bullet hit Donald, it became clear that my life and Barron's (their common son, Anm.d.Red.) were on the brink of a destructive change," she wrote.
The assailant was a "Monster," she said, who had tried to "extinguish Donald's passion – his laughter, his creativity, his love of music and his inspiration (...) Donald, the big and caring man, with whom I have gone through the best and the worst times." Does their marriage seem as wrecked as the media had recently speculated?
And almost more remarkably, Melania Trump also had a political message. "Let us remember that we, when the time comes, look beyond links and rights, beyond red and blue, and that we all come from families who fight with passion for a better life as long as we are in this earthly world. The sunset is here. Let us come together again. Now."
The Trumps call for unity
The call for unity resembles what Donald Trump had already said after the assassination attempt. It can be found cynically in the mouths of the Trumps, but the staging is intriguing.
"Melania knows what she's doing and does what she wants," wrote Mary Jordan, "Washington Post" reporter and author of the book "The Art of Her Deal: The Untold Story of Melania Trump," this week. "She is smart, because she knows that she is better listened to when she speaks seldom. And when she stays in the shadows, she draws more attention to herself when she steps into the limelight," is her assessment.
Now she has emerged from the shadows and people are talking about her again. This was already the case in 2016. At that time, she intervened in the campaign in one of her rare TV interviews to help her husband navigate the crossfire. The scandal surrounding Donald Trump's "Grab 'em by the pussy" comment was at its peak, and Melania Trump told the world that it was just "locker room talk" among men, in locker rooms. Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, said this year that the whole thing was Melania's idea. As the election turned out, is known.
Perhaps she will also come into play again this time with a decisive role in the campaign.
Melania Trump's absence from public view during the past months was noticeable, especially in contrast to her rare appearances during Donald Trump's US campaign. Despite her preference for staying out of the limelight during their presidency, Melania Trump made a public statement after the assassination attempt on her husband, expressing her concern for their family's safety and calling for unity in the United States of America. Jill Biden, the wife of the current president, has also emphasized the importance of unity in the presidency.
