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Melania Trump, the Media’s Girl in the Tower

By Charlotte Allen

I don’t know whether it’s “fake news,” but it’s almost certainly fake concern: all the solicitude in the mainstream media over First Lady Melania Trump’s supposed sham marriage with her extremely famous husband.

It started with the “face of an abused woman.” That was an 8-second viral clip of Melania as she first smiled at the soon-to-be President Trump during his inauguration then went solemn like almost everyone else caught by video on the Capitol’s West Porch—because, well, the swearing-in of the president of the United States is, believe it or not, a highly solemn ceremony. You’re not supposed to do the wave during a presidential inauguration.

The Twitter reaction to her change of expression was startling: “Domestic abuser and his prey.” “Seriously, I’m afraid for her.” “She doesn’t deserve this unhappiness if it’s what we’re seeing.” “Definitely going to be our first President to get divorced while in office, if he stays there long enough.” Jezebel‘s Gabrielle Bluestone churned out a piece: “Melania Hates Donald: A Theory“:

Donald Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, are now our president and first lady. But for how long?

Soon enough, there was a #FreeMelania hashtag. In the various iterations of the Women’s March on January 21, signs saying “Melania Trump Blink Twice If You Need Help” abounded.

The concern-trolling got so intense that Jess Zimmerman of New York magazine stepped in to tell its readers to cut it out:

And though the choices of a woman in an abusive relationship are always constrained— by calculated financial dependence on the abuser, by fear on behalf of her children, by the threat of revenge—Melania hasn’t just declined, or been unable, to leave. She’s also promoted her husband’s twisted attacks on Barack Obama’s legitimacy, defended his “grab them by the pussy” remarks, and blamed a reporter for inciting her own anti-Semitic harassment. She may or may not be abused, but if she is, she would be colluding with her abuser.

Then came the news that Melania wouldn’t be moving into the White House until at least this summer, so that the couple’s 10-year-old son, Barron, could finish out his school year in New York City, where the couple have lived since before his birth. This immediately engendered speculation that Melania . . . would never move into the White House. Because, well, she can’t stand her husband. Us Weekly made this a cover story:

Though Donald, 70, and his wife Melania announced in November that the first lady would relocate from New York City to Washington D.C. once their 10-year-old son Barron finished up the school year, a family insider reveals in the new issue of Us Weekly that may not happen. “They will reevaluate toward the end of the school year if they will keep this arrangement or if Melania and Barron will move to Washington,” says the source. “They could go either way right now. They will ultimately do what’s best for Barron.”

The headline for the magazine cover: “Separate Lives: Inside the Mysterious World of the First Lady—and Why She May Never Move Into the White House.”

Separate lives! Mysterious! Never move into the White House!

In fact, of course, there isn’t a shred of evidence to support any of this “mysterious world” speculation. Melania has announced her hire of a chief of staff, Lindsay Reynolds, giving every indication that in a few months 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue will be her new home. That hasn’t stopped the fantasists. The February 6 issue of the New Yorker features a supposed humor piece by staff writer Paul Rudnick, “Melania’s Diary 1/21/2017,” in which the new first lady loathes her husband physically and pines for her Slovenian former boyfriend.

This seems to be what the liberal press wants to believe—and wants us to believe.

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