Add Category
Melania teased the upcoming release of her book last week, in a dramatic black and white video in which she declared: “Writing this memoir has been a deeply personal and reflective journey for me. As a private person, who has often been the subject of personal scrutiny and misrepresentation, I feel a responsibility to clarify the facts.”
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump hold their crucial first televised debate this week.Credit: AP
But her latest post was a rare political intervention in defence of her husband, who also regularly complains about his free speech being stymied.
The 78-year-old Republican has repeatedly hit out about a gag order imposed against him during his hush money trial in New York, which was designed to stop him from intimidating witnesses.
He has also used the free speech defence to argue, unsuccessfully, that election interference charges against him in the swing state of Georgia should be dropped.
Melania, meanwhile, has remained largely out of the public eye since leaving the White House in early 2021 and is rarely on the campaign trail with Trump.
While she appeared with Trump at the convention, she resisted attempts by his aides to get her to speak at the event – in contrast to current first lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, both of whom rallied the party faithful at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last month and have regularly crisscrossed the country to campaign for their spouses.
Melania did, however, break her silence following the attempted assassination of her husband in Pennsylvania, issuing a powerful statement in which she recounted how a “monster” saw the former president as an “inhumane political machine” before opening fire.
Her latest video comes as both Trump and Harris prepare to face off on Tuesday night for the only planned presidential debate ahead of the 2024 US election.
The high stakes showdown comes as a New York Times/Siena College poll released this week has Trump leading Harris 48 per cent to 47 per cent, showing that the race remains neck and neck weeks after Biden’s decision to drop out.
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.