An old clip resurfaced on the internet over the weekend of Melania Trump supporting her husband Donald Trump's claims that former president Barack Obama wasn't born in the U.S.
On April 20, 2011, Melania appeared on the Joy Behar Show and backed up her husband's allegations that Obama wasn't born in the state of Hawaii like live birth records suggest.
"It’s not only Donald who wants to see [Obama's birth certificate], it’s American people who voted for him and who didn’t vote for him. They want to see that," she argued. Behar then made the point that the birth certificate had already been on display and all over the internet. "We feel it’s different than birth certificate," Melania responded.
Birtherism, to recap, is a conspiracy theory Donald Trump has championed that Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States, therefore making him constitutionally ineligible to be president. Many see birtherism as racist due to the fact that no other U.S. president was ever questioned about his birthplace until Obama, the first black president, took office. It is a direct attack on his legitimacy.
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Why is it more important than ever to highlight Melania Trump's racist claims? Ever since her husband's nomination through this past weekend's Women's March, there's been ongoing rhetoric about "freeing" Melania from Donald Trump, as if she has no choice in the matter or in her views.
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Her words, however, say otherwise. Not only has she supported the birther movement, but she also backed her husband after multiple claims came out about him sexually assaulting other women. It also still can't be overlooked that she plagiarized Michelle Obama's 2008 Democratic National Convention speech in her own Republican National Convention remarks this past summer, taking words from the former first lady and the wife of the man she's accusing of not being an American citizen.
The bottom line? Melania Trump is an autonomous being who's made her own statements. She should be held accountable for those just like every other member of the Trump family and the Trump administration.
