Former first lady Melania Trump,pictured in 2021.Credit:AP
And amid growing fears of political violence escalating in the US,she called for the country to “look beyond the left and right,beyond the red and blue”,and rise above the “hate and vitriol” that was tearing Americans apart.
“A monster who recognised my husband as an inhumane political machine attempted to ring out Donald’s passion – his laughter,ingenuity,love of music,and inspiration,” she wrote in a lengthy statement posted on X.
“The facets of my husband’s life – his human side – were buried below the political machine. Donald,the generous and caring man who I have been with through the best of times and the worst of times.
“This morning,ascend above the hate,the vitriol,and the simple-minded ideas that ignite violence.”
The statement was a rare public declaration for the former first lady,who has been married to Trump since January 2005 after meeting him in 1998 when she was a model. The pair have a son,Barron,18,of whom she is fiercely protective.
While the 54-year-old Slovenian-born Melania is immensely popular among Trump’s base and was expected to appear alongside Trump at this week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee,she has remained largely out of the public eye since leaving the White House in early 2021 and is rarely on the campaign trail with her 78-year-old husband.