Former first lady Melania Trump on Thursday criticized media narratives that she said fueled the motivation of assassins to carry out violence against former President Donald Trump.
The former first lady said in an interview with “Fox & Friends” that she expected the two would-be assassins to threaten her husband's life, given that the left-wing media has repeatedly called him a “threat to democracy.” She also criticized the media's silence in the days following the two assassination attempts, which led to further questions about the incidents.
“It's interesting that the mainstream media has gone quiet. They reported on the events of July 13 for a few days, and then everything went quiet. So it left me with a lot of questions: What is going on? This is not normal,” Melania Trump said. “And it's absolutely shocking that such vicious violence is being directed at my husband, especially by opposition leaders and the mainstream media, who are branding him a threat to democracy and calling him vulgar terms. They're only fueling a toxic atmosphere and empowering those who want to do him harm. This has to stop.”
Melania Trump said she ran to the television when she first learned of the first assassination attempt on her husband during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. She initially called neither her husband nor the Secret Service but was not answered, but then received word that Trump was safe. (RELATED: 'Your father has been shot': President Trump details the moment Melania and Barron learned of assassination attempt)
Her son, Barron Trump, rushed to the scene as soon as he received news of the first attempt and had a “very difficult” conversation with his mother, she said.
The former first lady said she called the Secret Service to ensure her husband was safe, as she was in New York during the second assassination attempt on Sept. 15. She said it was a “miracle” that the former president survived the assassination attempt, and that the power of God had spared his life so he could continue to serve the United States.
“I think those two events were truly miraculous,” Melania Trump said. “When you really think about it, July 13 was a miracle, because he wasn't able to be with us that much… I think something was watching over him, like the country really needed him.”
The first assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, climbed to the roof of the American Glass Research (AGR) building 130 feet from the rally and fired eight shots into the crowd, wounding Trump above the ear and killing 50-year-old Corey Comperatore.
The second assassination attempt occurred on September 15 at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida, when 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh was seen aiming an AK-47-style rifle at the former president.
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