Melania Trump has been under the radar ever since she gave a speech at the Republican National Convention. That speech was allegedly plagiarized from Michelle Obama. Melania finally surfaced on Monday and decided to do an interview to confront the latest audio tape scandal.In this interview she goes on to defend her husband to a certain extent.
When having the interview with Anderson Cooper, she tell him that she is not surprised that she is giving an interview on the subject. She said “I’m not surprised because a lot of people, they are against my husband“. She goes on to acuse the media of portraying both of them, and their marriage in a negative way. Further into the interview she said that it was just “boy talk” like we heard from Trump to defend his choice of language on the tape. Melania herself was shocked at what Trump had said in the tape, but was not surprised that it leaked. By saying this she is relating to the thousands of women who have heard the tape.
Melania also addresses the fact that she told him not to talk to people like Howard Stern and Billy Bush because they try and pull inappropriate things out of him and encourage him to use offensive language. Also, in this interview, nothing but the mic was on and that her husband was“egged on” to talk about aggressive behavior towards women. The media has played a major role in this scandal. By using junkyard journalism, journalist are twisting things that Trump has said making it the topic of discussion. They know what sells to people, and they jump on any opportunity for their article to get attention for their own benefit.
Having the wife of the candidate come forward to talk about this controversy, directly affects the women voters. I believe that with this interview, it gives them an insight on their relationship and I think that wives can relate to this. However, she did blame women, saying that they were the ones acting inappropriately towards Trump. She is blaming the media, as well as women for the scandals that have formed about her husband.
What affect will this have on the election you might ask, well the fact that Melania blamed women for the scandal may play a negative role. Undecided women voters want to hear her blame her husband for the demeaning things he has said toward women. That is one way you could look at it. Another way, which is how I look at it, is that these voters may emphasize with Melania and agree with her. Women, and wives all deal with men somepoint in their lives. They all have experienced men demeaning women at some point. Melania, just like many others are not getting blinded by the media scandals and are looking at the bigger picture which is what everyone should be doing.
I think that bringing up Melania was a really smart way to look at things. She has definitely not been in the media as much, and I think that Trump staffers could benefit from utilizing her more. Michelle Obama has been such a powerful surrogate for Clinton, and a powerful figure as she has stood by her husband all these years. That being said, I think that the Trump campaign could use Melania with much more effect as a surrogate, and as a link to connect with the women electorate. I guess we will just have to wait and see!