(The Hill) — Former first lady Melania Trump weighed in on the state of former President Donald Trump’s bid for the White House in an interview Wednesday while also reflecting on the recent assassination attempts on her husband’s life.
During a sit-down interview with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity, Melania Trump was asked what is different now compared to the GOP nominee’s previous two presidential campaigns.
“I would think that the world, especially the United States, is more divided than ever before,” she said. “We are dealing with much more danger, and especially we see what’s going on in the world and the threats that we get, and my husband, what he went through in the last few months.”
Her comments come just over two months after a gunman opened fire during a Trump rally in Butler, Pa. The former president was grazed in the ear with a bullet during the July 13 incident, while one event attendee was killed and two others injured. He is expected to make a return to the town over the weekend.
Weeks later, the Secret Service noticed the barrel of a rifle sticking through the former president’s Florida golf course and shot at the suspect who fled. A man was later arrested and is facing two felony charges.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence also briefed the former president about alleged assassination threats against him stemming from Iran.
After the July rally, the former first lady urged Americans to “ascend above the hate.” She later called it a “miracle” that her husband survived the two apparent attempts on his life.
She said Wednesday that she thinks Americans need to listen to one another, even if they hold different beliefs.
“We need to respect our freedom of speech, our individuality,” Melania Trump told the host. “I think it’s very important that ideas are heard, that we have very, very straightforward communications and we share the idea, we debate, because I think, with that, we could have innovation and success in this country.”
“I feel it’s a troubling trait in this country that we are canceling people that they don’t agree [with] on certain issues,” she said.
Trump noted that she knew when her husband announced he was running for a second term that it “will not be very pleasant.”
“In one way, you’re not surprised,” she said recalling her husband’s impeachments. “And every event that happened, I’m thinking, what is next? What are they trying to do?”
And you always fear the worse, and that it happened,” Trump added.
