U.S. first lady Melania Trump says she is one of “the most bullied” people in the world, which is the reason she created her anti-bullying campaign.
Trump made the remark in a television interview with ABC News, which aired on Thursday. The first lady has been travelling on a solo trip around Africa, promoting her Be Best initiative, which raises awareness about online bullying.
The interviewer asked her about her personal experience with bullying.
“I could say that I’m the most bullied person in the world,” Trump said.
“You’re really the most bullied person in the world?” ABC News’ Tom Llamas asked.
“One of them, if you really see what people saying about me,” Trump replied.
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“We need to educate the children of social-emotional behaviour, so when they grow up, they know how to deal with those issues,” Trump said. “That’s very important.”
Critics have pointed out that her husband, U.S. President Donald Trump, routinely mocks people for their looks and for what he says is a lack of talent or intelligence.
During his presidential campaign, Trump was criticized for mocking a New York Times reporter who has a disability.
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In the interview, Trump also said there are still people working in the White House who her husband cannot trust. She didn’t name names but said she let her husband know about them.
“Well,” she said, “some people, they don’t work there anymore.”
Asked if some untrustworthy people still work in the White House, she said, “Yes.”
Her comments come after a New York Times op-ed written last month by an anonymous senior Trump administration official claimed they were part of an internal resistance to the president.
The president, in an interview Thursday with Fox & Friends, was asked about why people he and his wife don’t trust are still in
his administration.
“I didn’t know people in Washington, and now I know everybody,” he said. “I know some that I wish I didn’t know.”
— With files from the Associated Press