Being the spouse of a politician isn’t easy, given all the scrutiny that comes with the role. But it’s a position that can serve to humanize a candidate.
Melania Trump, until yesterday, pretty much chose to stick to the sidelines. In her speech at the Republican convention last night, Fortune‘s Tory Newmyer reports, Trump missed an opportunity to soften the image of her husband.
She also sparked controversy by making remarks that appeared to be similar to those made by Michelle Obama at the Democratic convention in 2008, the Los Angeles Times reports. Once the similarities were noted on Twitter, the spotlight on Trump only intensified. The global press picked up on it, with the Guardian saying her speech was “so nice it was recited twice,” and Le Monde reporting she borrowed the current first lady’s remarks “word for word.” Before her speech, Trump told NBC News she wrote the speech. In response to questions that arose after she spoke, campaign spokesman Jason Miller sent out a statement that did not address the issue directly, instead saying Trump’s “team of writers took notes on her life’s inspirations, and in some instances included fragments that reflected her own thinking.”
Trump, who was born in a village in Slovenia, did not move to New York for her modeling career until 1996. (She became a U.S. citizen in 2006.) If her husband wins, Trump will be the first foreign-born first lady since John Quincy Adams’ wife Louisa, who was born in London. And she will be the first first lady whose native language is not English.
Melania Trump has proven her marketability, having launched a line of jewelry on QVC that sold out in 45 minutes. But marketing a candidate who is wildly unpopular with female voters may turn out to be a much tougher task.
Laura Cohn