Melania Trump questions 'whether Jill's concern was genuine' following Trump assassination attempt
FIRST ON FOX: Former first lady Melania Trump said she questions whether current first lady Jill Biden's "concern was genuine" following the first assassination attempt against President-elect Donald Trump in July, due to her rhetoric about her husband in the days leading up to the incident.
Trump, in an interview with French publication "Paris Match" last month, said that Biden "took the initiative to contact me directly" after "someone tried to murder my husband in Pennsylvania" during his rally on July 13.
"I do question, however, whether Jill’s concern was genuine as a few days prior she referred to my husband as ‘evil’ and a ‘liar,’" Trump said. "It was obvious that the onslaught of rhetoric from Democrat leaders and the mainstream media was so deeply embedded in our nation’s consciousness it prompted an attempt to assassinate Donald."
Trump’s interview was conducted before President-elect Trump won the 2024 presidential election.
President-elect Trump is in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday for meetings with House Republicans on Capitol Hill, and he will return to the White House for the first time since leaving in 2021 Wednesday for a meeting with President Biden.
Mrs. Trump, however, will not attend the meeting at the White House.
"Her husband’s return to the Oval Office to commence the transition process is encouraging, and she wishes him great success," her spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, in the interview, Trump said that while she was "relieved to learn my husband was safe, it was evident that the forces behind this wicked behavior won’t come to an end."
"Simply put, they want Donald out. They won’t stop. Has the concept of ‘respect’ become antiquated? Can opposing sides prioritize decency, come together, and coexist?" she questioned. "Doubtful, as the Democrat political engine peddles harsh words, vile names, and labels our nation’s 45th President ‘a threat to democracy.’"
She added, "People today are so desensitized they actually joke about killing a former U.S. President."
Mrs. Trump said that "it is undeniable that this type of speech created a toxic political environment."
BIDEN-TRUMP WHITE HOUSE MEETING REVIVES PRESIDENTIAL TRADITION SKIPPED 4 YEARS AGO
"This relentless vilification deepened the political divide in America, and now compromises those individuals who dare to stand-up for their own beliefs," she said. "We are dangerously close to the edge of a different type of societal change. It is time to be introspective, rewire ourselves, and discover the root cause of this egoism. It is incumbent upon every American to begin posing these questions in order to ensure the survival of our nation. We now live in a post-respect world."
She added, "I guess nothing in politics is sacred anymore."
President-elect Trump, after the second assassination attempt against him in September, in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, also blamed Democrats’ rhetoric for the violence.
"Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out," Trump said in September.