First Lady Melania Trump spoke candidly with Fox News host Sean Hannity this week and the interview aired Wednesday night, just her second TV interview since becoming first lady. She used some of the discussion time to criticize American media she says has used her and her family for ratings. She termed these people "opportunists."
"I would say the opportunists who are using my name or my family's names to advance themselves, from comedians to journalists, to performers, book writers," Mrs. Trump told Hannity. "The problem is they are writing the history and it's not correct."
This wasn't the first instance Mrs. Trump has fought back at the media. Who can blame her, considering how some outlets seem more obsessed with her footwear than her initiatives, like her anti-bullying "Be Best" campaign? Most recently media even found reason to skewer her Christmas decorations.
Having watched her Hannity interview, a panel of CNN analysts told Mrs. Trump to stop whining about being in the spotlight. She should be appreciating her status, they argued.
“First of all, she has this incredible air of aggrievement,” CNN global affairs analyst Susan Glasser said. “Here is this extraordinary story of a woman who came to this country as an immigrant, as a model, and is now the first lady of the United States and you would think in her rare public appearances, you know, that some terrible wrong has been done to her in this country. I’ve always been surprised by that air of grievance that she carries very publicly with her.”
CNN contributor Joan Walsh agreed, noting how Melania “continues to whine” about being first lady. She suggested that if Michelle Obama had been so negative about her role, the media would never forgive her.
“I’m sure privately, you’re allowed to grouse, but you know, if Michelle Obama had done half of the complaining that she has done in her limited interviews…she’d be skewered,” according to Walsh. “I mean, there’s just a constant sort of pity party whenever she gets in front of a microphone.”
Actually, Mrs. Obama did complain about her situation. CNN must have forgotten the time the former first lady said that living in the White House felt like prison, albeit a "really nice" one.
"There are some prison elements to it,” she joked. “But it’s a really nice prison.”
Mrs. Obama said she can't complain, but noted there are "definitely elements that are confining.”
Melania didn't ask to be first lady, but she has grown in her role. Her approval rating ticked up this fall and it now stands at 54 percent.
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