Melania Trump had avoided the spotlight for years. But in the past few days she has published several videos in online media. “As a private citizen who has often been the subject of public criticism and misrepresentation, I feel an obligation to clarify the facts.”she says in a black and white clip, looking at her book. The 256-page book costs $40 (the equivalent of 36 euros), and a signed version with photos costs $250. According to dpa, in the advertising for this, Melania Trump also addresses topics that she has previously said little or nothing about, such as the 2020 anti-racist demonstrations in Washington or doubts about the official portrayal of the assassination attempt on her husband. “There’s definitely more to this story and we need to find out the truth,” she says in one of the clips. About Nude photos of her, which tabloids published in 2016, she says, “I proudly stand by my work as a nude model,” and asks, “Can’t we appreciate the beauty of the human body more?” in another clip The Slovenian native condemns the raid by the US Federal Police FBI on the Trumps’ house in Florida two years ago. The government violated their privacy.
The videos were primarily used to market her book, says Katherine Jellison, a history professor at Ohio University who researches presidential couples. But Trump also wanted to “convey an image of herself as a strong woman who has her life and her fate in her own hands.” That’s also why she is largely kept out of her husband’s presidential campaign. “This is part of this independence project,” analyzes the historian. Melania Trump did not accompany her husband to the trial in New York in the spring or to his campaign appearances. In doing so, she clearly defies the customs in US politics, where candidates’ spouses usually take an active part in the campaign. Doug Emhoff, the The husband of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is enthusiastically campaigning for his wife during the election campaign and is by her side at many appointments.
