January 6, 2021 will go down in US history. An angry mob surrounding US President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the US Capitol to prevent Trump opponent Joe Biden from formally confirming his election victory. Five people died in an attack on US democracy, which was shaken to its foundations that day. A year and a half later, a committee of inquiry is still dealing with the events surrounding the storming of the Capitol – the focus is on the role of ex-US President Donald Trump, who is said to have incited his supporters with his (non-)actions. Only one person in the White House does not want to have heard anything about what happened on January 6: the then First Lady Melania Trump.
In an interview with "Fox News" Melania Trump explained that she had long-planned official duties of the First Lady that day. "Accordingly, I didn't catch what happened at the Capitol." She was busy that day doing a kind of inventory. She cataloged the contents of the historic White House rooms and had photographs of the renovations made for the archives. This is a "very important task that requires great care, an eye for detail and concentration - both in planning and in implementation," emphasized the 52-year-old. The work with archivists, photographers and designers had been planned well in advance for January 6th. If she had been informed about the events at the Capitol, she would have reacted immediately, Trump assured: "I condemn all forms of violence." However, the former First Lady only released such a tweet five days later.
The broadcaster CNN sowed doubts about Melania Trump's version. Accordingly, it is not the job of the First Lady to coordinate the inventory in the White House. Rather, the curator of the White House and the "White House Historical Association" are primarily responsible for maintaining the register of the contents of the official White House collection.
Trump's interview is also in response to statements by her former chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham. At the end of June, she published a screenshot on Twitter that was supposed to show a text message to Melania Trump on January 6th. In this, Grisham asks a contact identified as "MT" if he doesn't want to tweet that peaceful protest is the basic right of every American, but that violence and lawlessness have no place in society. The only answer was "No".
She always supported Grisham and brought her back to the East Wing of the White House after Grisham failed as her husband's press secretary," lamented the former first lady. Trump accused Fox News of Grisham for not giving her enough insight and gave information about what was happening at the Capitol."Your behavior is only partially public knowledge, but that was typical of your work," said Trump.Grisham resigned after the storming of the Capitol, the former First Lady also sees the recent actions as one Kind of a lifeline for her press secretary."It's obvious that her latest betrayal is a desperate attempt to salvage her ruined career and tarnished reputation," Trump said.
Grisham dropped the tweet at the end of June, a day after the hearing of former White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson, who heavily implicated Trump in the committee of inquiry. Grisham told CNN that her tweet provided good context for what was happening in the White House in January 2021. "I knew Melania well but I was so disappointed, discouraged and disgusted that she didn't just take action to say there should be no violence," Grisham explained in her tweet.
Grisham also responded to Melania Trump's Fox interview when asked by "CNN". It seems to her that the interview was intended as a distraction to distract from Donald Trump's transgressions. It's impossible that she didn't notice the storming of the Capitol. "Everything she said is bullshit and she knows it."
Quellen: Fox News, CNN, CNN (2)
