Melania Trump appears to swat Trump’s hand away, refusing to hold it https://t.co/hTaZeBwZ1q pic.twitter.com/2IdS1iiicK
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) May 22, 2017
It’s a small, blink-and-you-miss-it moment, but it’s there: as Donald and Melania Trump cross the tarmac after touching down in Israel, Donald appears to reach for his wife’s hand—and she swats him away. For a moment, Melania was All of Us.
Most days, I don’t particularly feel bad for Melania Trump. She knew what she married, and she’s stood by him through God knows how much pussy-grabbing. She lives a gilded, privileged life of vast wealth and now, as First Lady of the United States, commands power and influence. She could, like Michelle Obama and first ladies before her, undertake initiatives that would benefit the lives of everyday Americans, although she hasn’t shown much enthusiasm for that role or for visiting the White House.
This being said, it cannot be easy being married to Donald Trump (just ask his two former wives, especially Ivana). So while I don’t feel bad for Melania, I feel a sort of curious sympathy. Sometimes Melania’s public behavior—almost unconscious reactions of repulsion to her husband—suggests that their marriage is strained (to put it mildly).
The fact that they live apart further suggests this, but who am I to question the hundreds of thousands of dollars a day it costs to keep Melania and Barron in NYC? Oh, wait, I’m a tax-paying New Yorker. I can question the hell out of it. Every day I wake up thinking, Imagine the unending screaming on Fox News and in Congress if Bill Clinton lived in plush seclusion away from Hillary on the taxpayers’ dime, and then I hit the snooze button and drift blissfully out of our waking nightmare.
Anyway, the signs of Melania’s dissatisfaction have been there for a while. We all remember her fast-falling face at the inauguration, right? Who could forget? This is what my face does every time I’m happy and then recall that Donald Trump is the President.
I can’t stop staring at the gif https://t.co/LqHMmFOVyp pic.twitter.com/CSGxT2eRS4
— Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) January 23, 2017
The swat seen ’round the world today is just one more tiny moment that seems to show All Is Not Normal in Trumplandia. And for that moment, Melania seemed to give voice to the emotions that so many of us feel.
@puppymnkey Beautiful, right?
I never thought Melania Trump could ever speak for me, but her wordless ‘Don’t Fucking Touch Me, Pig’ was my own heart.— Ody #DemForce (@miltons_satan) May 22, 2017
Do you know why I love this so much? It’s because Donald Trump is the one who is usually rudely ignoring his wife—leaving her behind unescorted as he enters buildings or leaves airplanes ahead of her. We first saw that behavior writ large on inauguration day, and it continues.
I genuinely can’t stop thinking about this pic.twitter.com/NW7uOu96tO
— Marc (@MarcSnetiker) January 23, 2017
So keep swatting him away, Melania. We understand. We’d do it if we could.
(via The Guardian, top image: Mark Reinstein / Shutterstock)
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