Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, who previously served as senior advisor to First Lady Melania Trump, criticized her former boss on CNN Monday because she has not left President Donald Trump during his rocky tenure.
Wolkoff said Melania has the ability to publicly go against her husband on issues, such as with COVID-19.
"Well, she’s still married to the President of the United States. Some people say easier said than done. But, again, as someone who does have a voice that means something, there were so many opportunities where she could have gone on national television and not just on her Twitter feed and put a mask on her face and told children all around the country to please just wear a mask," Wolkoff said.
"As a mother who adores her son and speaks of children all the time, but nothing else for children, there was so much more that could have been done not just during the pandemic, but also think about what are children and their parents talking about today? Where is Melania Trump? I mean, it’s disheartening," she continued.
"It sounds like, Stephanie, and you correct me if I’m wrong, but it sounds like you believe that there is no way that she could actually change the President’s behavior, but that there is a place for her to serve as a role model?" CNN host Brianna Keilar asked.
"That’s exactly what I’m saying. And I do think that by being married to Donald and by enabling him to continue doing what he wants to do, she may give her opinion, which, again, as we’ve all seen, he’s discredited generals which are far more experienced than Melania, but maybe he listens to her more, as we’ve learned that, too, but she is responsible for everything that’s going on right now. To be able to just block it out and not think about it and think that that’s okay and that’s an excuse, that’s not rational. That is not okay and that is not part of being a human being," Wolkoff replied.
In an op-ed for the Daily Beast, Wolkoff wrote that Wednesday's riot at the Capitol building shows Melania has "blood on her hands."
Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick died from the injuries he sustained after defending the Capitol while Ashli Babbitt, an Air Force veteran, was shot and killed by police after trying to enter the Speaker's Lobby. Multiple people who entered the Capitol building have been arrested as law enforcement is cracking down on who took part in the melee.
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