It’s not every day that you see a potential first lady feel the need to explain to a reporter that her husband isn’t Adolf Hitler. But there’s a lot that’s unusual about Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, and Du Jour’s interview with Melania Trump is no exception to that rule.
Melania Trump on her husband: “He’s not Hitler”
Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Here’s her response to a question about Louis C.K. comparing Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States to something Hitler might favor:
When I mention that the comedian Louis C.K. flat out compared Trump to Hitler, Melania stares blankly back at me.
Do you know who Louis C.K. is, I ask.
“No,” she says, shaking her head. But she continues: “We know the truth. He’s not Hitler. He wants to help America. He wants to unite people. They think he doesn’t but he does. Even with the Muslims, it’s temporary.” She concedes: “Maybe he needs to say it in a softer way. He doesn’t go after religions. He feels like we need to know who’s coming to this country. If not, we don’t have a country. That’s how he feels. We see how he is, and he wants to unite the country and bring people together and bring jobs back.”
And here she is on anti-Semitic harassment Julia Ioffe received after publishing a profile of Melania:
“I don’t control my fans,” Melania says, “but I don’t agree with what they’re doing. I understand what you mean, but there are people out there who maybe went too far. She provoked them.”
Male politicians often use their wives to somewhat soften their image, but you can see here that there isn’t really much of a softer side of Trumpism. He’s not Hitler, and is not exactly in favor of violent, anti-Semitic threats against reporters, but it’s not like there haven’t been provocations, and Muslims really do need to be banned from the country. Just temporarily, of course. And talked about in a softer way.
