Bill Clinton said Friday that he felt bad for Melania Trump, third wife to GOP nominee Donald Trump, after she gave a speech outlining her plans to address cyberbullying.
“I never felt so bad for anybody in my life as I did for his wife going out giving a speech saying oh, cyberbullying was a terrible thing,” the former president said Friday at a campaign stop in Colorado.
Melania Trump delivered an address in Berwyn, Pa., this week in which she outlined her plans as first lady to address the issue of online bullying.
“Technology has changed our universe,” she said. “But like anything powerful, it can have a bad side. We have seen this already. As adults, many of us are able to handle mean words, even lies. Children and teenagers can be fragile. They hurt when they are made fun of or made to feel less in looks or intelligence.”
“It is never OK when a 12-year-old girl or boy is mocked, bullied or attacked,” Melania Trump added. “It is terrible when it happens on the playground, and it is absolutely unacceptable when it is done by … someone on the internet. We have to find a better way to talk to each other.”
Though her address won kudos in certain circles, it also raised eyebrows on account of the fact the GOP nominee is notorious for lobbing insults on social media, including the more than 280 invectives aimed against celebrities, former lawmakers and other public officials. There was also the moment in September when Trump infamously went on an early morning Twitter rant against Alicia Machado, a former Miss Universe contestant who alleges he verbally abused her in the 1990s
Trump first tweeted at 3:20 a.m., saying, “Anytime you see a story about me or my campaign saying “sources said,” DO NOT believe it. There are no sources, they are just made up lies!” Next, he tweeted at 5:14 a.m., “Wow, Crooked Hillary was duped and used by my worst Miss U. Hillary floated her as an ‘angel’ without checking her past, which is terrible!” Trump then tweeted at 5:19 a.m., “Using Alicia M in the debate as a paragon of virtue just shows that Crooked Hillary suffers from BAD JUDGEMENT! Hillary was set up by a con.”
On Friday, Bill Clinton laughed at the notion of anyone in the Trump family speaking out against online bullying.
“I thought [of Melania Trump’s claim cyberbullying is harmful], yeah, especially if it’s done at 3 in the morning against the former Miss Universe by a guy running for president,” Clinton joked. “None of this is real. You couldn’t make it up. The problem is we’re laughing but it isn’t funny because people’s lives are going to be changed by this.”
