The hypocrisy of Melania Trump
Graphic by Charlotte Alden.
November 29, 2016
Melania Trump will be a major role model for people worldwide once she assumes the position of first lady of the United States. The fact that she will acquire this position is inevitable, but her qualifications and behavior make her future as a role model questionable.
The behavior she promotes is frequently hypocritical and inappropriate. And, in today’s smartphone-obsessed world, it can go viral in minutes.
After Jewish journalist Julia Ioffe published a critique of the first-lady-to-be, Trump supporters were quick to express anti-Semitic comments about Ioffe, saying that she should “be burned in an oven,” as well as sending her voicemails containing recordings of Hitler’s speeches. Instead of condemning her supporters, Melania Trump claimed that Ioffe “provoked” these comments.
Ironic. The same woman who claims to be adamantly against bullying, who is planning to launch a campaign against cyberbullying, has, along with her husband, contributed to the bullying epidemic.
Another one of the most baffling instances of Melania Trump’s hypocrisy is her support of her husband’s immigration policy. Although she herself immigrated to the United States from Slovenia and became a legal citizen in 2006, she supports President-elect Trump’s plan to deport millions of immigrants, many similar to herself. She doesn’t believe that her husband insulted Mexicans by calling them “criminals.” She argues, “He said illegal immigrants.”
In addition to her inexplicable tolerance of bullying, the future first lady has demonstrated other behavior that calls into question her ability to be a role model.
When Melania Trump delivered her speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention, many drew parallels between her words and Michelle Obama’s speech from the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Stealing intellectual property is simply unacceptable. As a country built on free speech it is our job to disavow plagiarism.
Despite her constant defense of her husband’s many controversial policies and her own questionable actions, I applaud the future first lady’s effort to draw attention to a prevalent and detrimental issue facing our society. It’s clear that bullying needs to be addressed, and it’s great that Melania Trump wants to take on the issue as her campaign as first lady. But she needs to examine the power of her own words and choose them wisely before presenting them to the nation.
In the meantime, we are left asking ourselves whether this is the type of role model we want as our first lady.
Pepe the frog • Nov 30, 2016 at 9:57 pm
The left is attacking a 10 y/o. Donald Trump insults full grown adults who should have the sense to not be offended by words. By the way, Donald Trump does not hate Jews and I’ve never met a Trump supporter whose ever said anything negative about Jews or Israel.
Walt Whitman • Nov 29, 2016 at 8:10 pm
Definitely a missed opportunity by not doing a pun on Melania being a supermodel but can’t be a role model.
On a different note, Melania shouldn’t be blamed for her speech, as she did not write it, much like most public, political figures (e.g. Obama).
WhitFriend • Dec 7, 2016 at 11:20 am
Yes she certainly did not write the speech, but if she delivered it she is responsible for its content. If Melania did not read/approve the content beforehand, shame on her. But she does not get a pass on the content of a speech because she didn’t write it
Pepe • Nov 29, 2016 at 7:58 pm
“I don’t control my fans, but I don’t agree with what they’re doing,” she told DuJour. “I understand what you mean, but there are people out there who maybe went too far. She provoked them” (LATimes). Lol way to put a spin on what she had to say. “Journalism”.