Election campaign without Melania Trump's wife no longer appears at her husband's side

Even as First Lady, Melania Trump has never really pushed herself to the fore. But now she has almost completely disappeared from the scene for months.

The Republican primary in Florida in March, the odd fundraising gala in April, her son Barron's graduation in May: Melania Trump's public appearances with her husband Donald Trump in recent months can be counted on one hand.

She has stayed away from campaign appearances completely, as well as the hush-money trial against her husband in New York. She did not even acknowledge his guilty verdict with a comment on social media and she did not attend a birthday party organized by a Trump fan club for his birthday in mid-June.

Melania seems to have completely disappeared

The AP news agency spoke to fifteen people who had been at major events with campaign donors or at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in recent months. None of them had seen Melania Trump there. Her office did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the AP.

Now, Melania had not been at her husband's rallies very often during the 2020 campaign. And even as First Lady in previous years, she tended to avoid the big spotlight. But now she has almost completely disappeared from the scene.

Rather unusual behavior

In March, when asked whether she wanted to actively participate in the election campaign, she said: "Stay tuned". Nothing has happened in this direction since then.

Compared to other presidential wives, her behavior is rather unusual, says history professor Katherine Jellison from Ohio University. But the Trumps cannot be measured against previous political standards anyway.

The fact that she stayed away from the trial in New York should come as no surprise to many. After all, it was also centrally about a sexual encounter between her husband and porn actress Stormy Daniels - around four months after the birth of Barron in 2006.

"I think it's very difficult for her"

"Where is Melania?" the reporters kept calling out to Trump during the trial - without getting an answer. At one point, he wished her a happy birthday from court.

"I think it's very hard for her," Trump told Fox News after the guilty verdict. "I mean, she's doing fine. But she has to read all this garbage, you know."

Trump also repeatedly mentions his wife at campaign rallies and reports on conversations with her, apparently wanting to show his supporters that she is still very much working for him behind the scenes. And how decisive wives can be for US presidential candidates has been shown time and again in past elections. They are often the ones who win the votes of female voters and make the candidates for the most powerful office in the world a little more approachable.

dpa