Melania Trump Calls For Unity After Donald Trump Tweets About ‘Thugs’ At George Floyd Protests
First lady Melania Trump took to Twitter on Friday to call for unity in the United States and encouraged people to peacefully protest George Floyd’s death. Her words came hours after her husband, President Donald Trump blasted the rioters in a separate tweet.
“Our country allows for peaceful protests, but there is no reason for violence. I’ve seen our citizens unify & take care of one another through COVID19 & we can’t stop now. My deepest condolences to the family of George Floyd. As a nation, let’s focus on peace, prayers & healing.”
The first lady’s platform is “Be Best,” which is an anti-bullying campaign, and her comments on social media appeared to be an extension of her platform. However, many also pointed to her husband as somebody who needs to take her words to heart. Last Thursday night, the president sent a tweet that many people, including Sen. Kamala Harris, felt was racist, as it insulted the rioters and made reference to shooting in response to looting.
“These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty, and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!” tweeted Trump.
Twitter put a warning on the president’s tweet, warning that it glorified violence, which went against Twitter’s rules, but the site left the post visible because it may be in the public’s interest. The move by the platform came one day after Trump signed an executive order about social media, and it is the second time in the past week that Twitter added a disclaimer to the president’s tweets.
Melania’s tweet received nearly 50,000 likes on the popular social media site, and almost 14,000 accounts retweeted it. Several of those who responded appreciated her words, but others took her to task for her husband’s behavior and accused the president of stoking the racial divide in the country during his presidency.
“You guys criticized the peaceful NFL protests, too,” replied journalist Helen Kennedy, referencing how Trump spoke out about professional football players like Colin Kaepernick when he and other players took a knee during the national anthem before football games in protest of police brutality against black people.
Others also found fault with the first lady’s post because her husband failed to wear a mask, thus going against the CDC’s recommendations for helping prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus and her own remarks about coming together amid the crisis.
