Melania Trump has been raising eyebrows since before President Trump took office just a few short months ago. Even before the Donald Trump took the oath of office, the country’s eyes have been on this now-first lady. Some of this attention can’t be helped: She’s only the second foreign-born first lady. But lately the attention has been focused around the fact that she and their son, Barron, haven’t yet moved into the White House.
When news feeds are saturated with articles about the couple’s PR catastrophes, it’s easy to forget Melania’s subtle power: making her husband seem more professional and respectable. She attested to his good character when women accused him of sexual assault, and over Easter weekend, she successfully prevented a blunder that could have caused headlines about the president’s lack of patriotism.
During the White House Easter egg roll, she subtly prodded President Trump in the leg when the national anthem began. While Melania put her hand to her heart immediately, Trump was not so quick on the draw. (Barron seems to have taken a cue from his mom on this one, but still followed the tradition just as the song started.) In the video, Melania does her best to hide the fact that she’s prompting her husband; she keeps her hand low and mostly hidden by the planter in front of them. Watch her left hand carefully, and you can see the whole thing play out in the clip below:
That’s a subtle nudge from Melania to remind Trump to lift his hand during the national anthem… https://t.co/P9XlYpjvcQ
— Daniella Diaz (@DaniellaMicaela) April 17, 2017
Trump seems to immediately understand the hint behind her nudge, and gracefully gets his hand over his heart a second later. The lag was still long enough for eagle-eyed viewers to catch, and the Twitter insults followed close behind.
Correction: Melania reminded him to cover the empty hole in his chest where humans usually have their hearts https://t.co/nrMexoVYdr
— PopRag (@PopRag) April 17, 2017
A common theme of the Twitter criticism was the fact that Melania is an immigrant and still beat Trump to following the tradition.
IMMIGRANT & 11 year old cover their hearts out of respect during the National Anthem. Meanwhile, Trump forgets – so much for America First. pic.twitter.com/8QEztTtMMp
— Kaivan Shroff (@KaivanShroff) April 17, 2017
Who knew that Melania would be the most American of this pair? #resist https://t.co/ojElehj6rK
— Michelle (@jbjfan88) April 17, 2017
H/T: Elle.com
