ABC News has really been milking scoring the first solo interview with Melania Trump all week and the network’s morning show did its part to increase audience interest. The liberal women hosts of The View are known as nasty, gossipy, mean girls when it comes to conservatives. They regularly drag President Trump and members of his administration while their New York City studio audience claps in approval. Friday morning host Yvette Nicole Brown decided to label First Lady Melania Trump as just one of his mistresses before marrying him.
ABC’s Tom Llamas was on the show to publicize the Friday night interview on the network’s show 20/20. I don’t watch the show because life is too short but I did see the tweets generated by Mrs. Trump’s spokeswoman and the White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Both complained about Brown’s snide remark and told her to get her facts straight. After playing a clip from the interview, Brown made the following remark:
“Is it possible that she’s not concerned with his mistresses because she was one of them?”
Wow. I assume the clip was of Llamas’ question to Mrs. Trump about the status of the first couple’s marriage. “Do you love your husband?”, he asked her. She replied, “Yes. We are fine. Yes.” Frankly, that was a nicer answer than the man deserved. Have you ever heard a reporter ask the First Lady if she loves her husband? No. Of course, you have not. This kind of thing only happens in Trump’s America. Llamas still said that their marriage is a mystery “not quite solved.” Ugh.
Melania Trump says speculation about her husband’s alleged infidelities are “not a concern and focus” to her: “I’m a mother and a first lady, and I have much more important things to think about and to do.” #MelaniaTrump https://t.co/z5Dwb4saew pic.twitter.com/Gy2YoHsSw2
— 20/20 (@ABC2020) October 13, 2018
Brown responded to her critics in a standard denial of wrongdoing.
I stand by every word I said.
My mom taught me that respect is earned. And thankfully we live in a nation–at least for now–where I don't have to bow down to dear leader or his third wife.
And come for ME, @StephGrisham45, not @TheView. The views were MINE.
I own them. ✊🏽 https://t.co/QqgQVvPG7S
— yvette nicole brown (@YNB) October 12, 2018
Oh, how clever. A nasty liberal woman with a chip on her shoulder refers to the president with the designation used for the North Korean dictator. A quick scroll through her Twitter timeline leaves me nauseous. There is no truth to the fact Melania was a mistress. Trump wasn’t married when he met her.
I watched the interview Friday night and the first thing that struck me was the air of snarkiness coming from the reporter, Tom Llamas. It became clear over the course of the hour-long show that Melania’s interview was being used to criticize the president and his policies. Few of the questions asked of Melania were simply about her and most were prefaced with a thinly-veiled attack on her husband.
TRANSCRIPT: @TomLlamasABC interviews first lady Melania Trump in her first extensive interview since becoming first lady. Read the transcript of the ABC NEWS special “Being Melania – The First Lady” here: https://t.co/ugEdU81R6Q pic.twitter.com/XoYHK5iMZG
— ABC News (@ABC) October 13, 2018
Llamas used clips of other network reporters and commentators giving their opinions of the Trumps and even used two past interviews as background. One went back to 1999 as the fact that Melania knew Trump frequently voiced a desire to run for president. She was asked back then what kind of First Lady she would like to be. Her answer was she wanted to be a traditional First Lady. A clip from an interview with Barbara Walters in 2015 was run, too.
The interview took place in a wildlife reserve in Kenya. The First Lady was on a very successful goodwill trip to Africa – her first solo overseas trip. Instead of focusing on where they were and why, he even questioned the reason for the trip. The First Lady was promoting her anti-bullying initiative for social media, Be Best, and Llamas asked her if she thought it was ironic since she’s married to the world’s biggest social media bully. That’s my characterization of the question but you get the idea. She said she knew she’d be criticized but wants to do it anyway to help kids that aren’t thick-skinned about abuse on social media. She partnered with USAID on the trip and Llamas made a point to ask her what she thought about her husband’s proposed cuts to the program. Melania said she would give feedback from the trip to the president but also clearly said she supports his policies.
The jacket that caused a meltdown that she wore as she traveled to and back from the Texas border to learn about the family separation policy from the Border Patrol and ICE came up. When asked to explain, she said it wasn’t worn on the ground in Texas and it was to send a message to “the left-wing media” criticizing her. Good for her.
She said one of the worst parts of her work as First Lady is dealing with foundations and corporations she’d like to partner with but they refuse to work with the administration because of politics.
For the record, she’s happy being First Lady and enjoys her life living in the White House. She’s fine with Trump running for re-election. She denied she’s a prisoner, as her critics claim, and she knows her time in the White House won’t last forever so she’s enjoying it now.
Llamas described Trump’s White House as chaotic and disorganized. He talked about the many departures of staff but failed to mention that it isn’t so unusual at the beginning of a new administration. Perhaps Llamas is too young to remember the first couple of years of the Clinton administration and he was a seasoned, career politician. As they talked about those around the president, Melania said there are some that she doesn’t trust. She herself keeps a small staff, compared to previous First Ladies, and considers her team of 12 as her inner circle.
While the news network wanted to dwell on salacious stories – true or not- for ratings, it was clear by the end of the show that the First Lady loves America and its children. She took the questions about Stormy Daniels and the Access Hollywood tape in stride while saying she reserves some thoughts as private ones. She is calm and somewhat reserved. She is also very smart. She knows who she is and exactly what she is doing. She is also drop-dead gorgeous, which must kill the haters.
Hillary voters and Berniebros are not going to treat her well. Trump voters and supporters of the administration will look favorably upon her. None of that changed because of the interview. No doubt one of the hags of The View will say something ugly about Melania Trump at the next opportunity. It’s who they are. I wonder if any of them are fluent in five languages.
First lady Melania Trump opens up about life inside the White House in exclusive wide-ranging interview with @TomLlamasABC: "We are very honored to serve our great nation.” https://t.co/MObqgm95iE #MelaniaTrump pic.twitter.com/P4loR1GsOu
— ABC News (@ABC) October 13, 2018
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