Melania Trump plays the normal political wife for just one week

Melania and Donald Trump at his MSG rally.
Photo: Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

If Michelle Obama, Ann Romney or Jill Biden spent the final weeks of a presidential election introducing their spouses at campaign events, giving fluffy interviews on cable news and promoting their (almost certainly ghostwritten) book, it would be completely unremarkable . In fact, Doug Emhoff has tirelessly done all of these political tasks as a spouse – (except for writing his memoirs) and you probably haven't heard a word about it.

But seeing Melania Trump suddenly act like a normal aspiring first lady in the final weeks of the presidential election is a little unsettling, so much so that headlines about her brief remarks at Donald Trump's racist rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday widely spread her appearance have described it as a “surprise” or even a “shock”.

Melania has taught the public to expect less than the bare minimum from a political spouse. She skipped Donald's November 2022 re-election campaign and all of his campaign and court appearances over the past two years (except for a few private fundraisers for a Republican LGBTQ group that netted her a six-figure check). She did show up to the Republican National Convention, but waited until the fourth night, went in alone and didn't give a speech.

Nevertheless, Melania was a conspicuous presence in the final days of the election campaign. She did several interviews with Fox News to promote her memoir, which landed in New York Just Bestseller list. And she brought Trump's re-election bid into those appearances, not just her own book, finally putting an end to the ridiculous chatter about her being a secret “resistance hero.” (According to Melania, her husband is “truly a family man” and his biggest mistake as president was “strong tweets.”) In her introduction to MSG, she said Donald would bring the “magic back” to the United States. She joined on Tuesday morning Fox & friends to answer sycophantic questions about her husband. And she even promoted the appearance on her Truth Social account, a space usually reserved for selling her NFTs and statement jewelry.

Of course, Melania's appearances were not entirely without drama. She seemed to dodge Donald's attempt to kiss her on the lips at MSG:

And most political spouses don't have to deal with questions like “You still call your husband a second Hitler.” How does that make you feel?”

Melania’s response: “It’s terrible. He is not Hitler. And all his supporters are behind him because they want the country to be successful and we see what kind of support he has.”

Her response was a bit garbled, but Melania's overall message is as clear as it can be without scribbling it on the back of a jacket: “It's really important to me… for now.”