Melania Trump will lay out the role she expects to fill as first lady in a speech Thursday that appears aimed at tamping down Democrats’ anti-woman attacks against her husband, GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.
In a preview released by the Trump campaign Mrs. Trump sticks to standard campaign platitudes, saying she envisions a world where children can grow up happy.
“I want our children in this country, and all around the world, to live a beautiful life, to be safe and secure. To dream freely of love and a family of their own someday,” she says in the short excerpts released Thursday morning. “We need to teach our youth American values. Kindness, respect, compassion, charity, understanding, cooperation.”
Her speech, in Pennsylvania, comes at a time when Democrats are focusing heavily on women. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign has highlighted Mr. Trump’s list of offensive comments toward women, and President Obama has suggested Mrs. Clinton is being treated unfairly by the FBI because she is a woman.
Mrs. Trump, the GOP nominee’s third wife, could deliver a powerful answer to those charges.
But she’s has been an enigmatic figure in the campaign. Her speech at the GOP convention, which was supposed to be her entry into the world of politics, instead was panned after her speechwriter admitted to lifting a large chunk from a speech by first lady Michelle Obama.
Her own history as an immigrant has also challenged Mr. Trump’s campaign narrative after reports accused her of abusing her visa status to take work here when she was unauthorized to do so. The campaign has declined to release her immigration paperwork, and Mrs. Trump never held a press conference that her husband promised she would host to clear up the questions.
Instead, a Trump family lawyer released a statement saying he went through her immigration documents and deemed them in order.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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