Like her husband, Melania Trump is eager to return to the White House

Melania Trump came out of hiding. She graced her husband’s rally in New York’s Madison Square Garden, looking like a real housewife of Florida or the envy of Marjorie Taylor Greene. Dressed in a Michael Kors coat-dress with black-and-white print that seemed to mimick zebra stripes, she walked onto the stage like a homecoming queen after an introduction by Trump lackey Elon Musk, who told the crowd, “I’m dark gothic MAGA.” Sans clunky pendants that other women found striking, Mrs Trump, who allegedly speaks five languages, fluently, looked ready to be FLOTUS once more. Her walk onto the stage, her wave, and her choice of outfit came together as a rehearsal, in the event that Donald Trump gets inaugurated, again. Why the Trumps were campaigning in a state where they are not adored and will unlikely win is not clear.

The wife of the ex-president, as it turned out, came to introduce her spouse. She gave a short speech, calling New York their “hometown, where architectural symbols of strength, courage, and unity create a canvas for the world’s undisputed capital of industry.” Yet, she and her husband chose Florida to roost. Her eyes seemed to be following a teleprompter, as she tried to smile or look personable. And then she acknowledged the “titans of finance, fashion and entertainment”—all of whom cannot describe she or her husband—who “convene among an iconic range of superior design and structures and artistic accomplishments.” The crowd cheered. Did they really understand what she was spouting?

The crowd cheered. Did they really understand what she was spouting?

It is not clear why Mrs Trump was required this day when she has been making herself scarce on the campaign trail. What could she say that her husband could not or has not? After the homage to the “heartbeat of this metropolis” and the “pulse of this America”, she suddenly adopted a different tune. “New York City is unforgiving,” she said. Was that a lamentation? She went on with how dismal life is in general and created a dystopian picture that is not synonymous with her “hometown” but better matched her husband’s dark view of it. This story, she asserted, “repeats itself from coast to coast.” And then she, the immigrant, said, “This is America.” Melania Trump may have just published her autobiography, but surely she did not write the speech herself? She sounded like she desperately wanted to make Donald Trump proud. She needed to be sure he would not say she has “low IQ”, as he did about his opponent later.

Melania Trump may have copied Michelle Obama’s speech before, but she was still not able to ape her fellow former-First Lady’s far more compelling and confident style. She stood behind the lectern and spoke with impalpable conviction. She did not sound like she needed to convince the MAGA masses that had come to support her husband belittle and berate. She did not single out anyone to rebuke. Rather, she spoke of striving for the “future”—a word she used twice, but by now is very much associated with Kamala Harris’s campaign, as in the refrain “fight for the future”. Her husband did not continue with her non-attack. His unsurprising vitriol quickly obliterated what she spoke of earlier. The “magic” that she said New York City and America needed to have back now required more than words to conjure.

Screen shot: CNN