For the past year, Donald Trump has been campaigning to be elected as the next President of the US (POTUS). Trump has been President once before, from 2017 to 2021, where he was replaced by Joe Biden.
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On Thursday, Trump attended the Republican National Convention (RNC), a four-day convention in Milwaukee, just a few days after Trump survived an assassination attempt.
The former President didn’t attend the convention alone, his whole family attended—including his wife Melania, who has not been an active part of his election campaign.
Melania Trump attends campaign rally alongside Donald Trump
As mentioned above, Donald Trump attended the RNC alongside his wife, Melania, and almost all of his children. During the convention, the former President was named the GOP presidential nominee on Monday, July 15, as per Newsweek, and accepted the nomination during a speech on Thursday, July 18.
If you have been following Trump’s presidential campaign, you will have noticed that his wife, Melania doesn’t attend most of the rallies, nor has she spoken about Trump’s campaign. This has led to rumours that if Trump becomes President, Melania will not be a full-time First Lady.
Moreover, at the RNC, Melania did not give a speech, which was somewhat breaking tradition, as per The New York Times. Melania’s last political appearance was back in March, when she cast her primary ballot on Super Tuesday.
Despite not giving a speech, Melania delighted Trump supporters after a photo of her and her husband was shared on X. In the photo, Trump is wearing his signature blue suit with a red tie, while Melania is wearing a red skirt suit.
Melania Trump is at the RNC. pic.twitter.com/I06AV6VG5U
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) July 19, 2024
However, it isn’t what the couple is wearing that excited fans, it is the fact that the husband and wife are holding hands in a rare show of PDA. As per Newsweek, within the first 20 minutes of the photo being shared, it received 56,100 views.
While media have been focusing on the appearance of Melania, it was also noticed that there was a family member who was absent from the RNC.
Donald Trump’s youngest son, Barron didn’t attend the convention
During the RNC, Donald Trump was surrounded by his family, Melania, Ivanka and her husband Jared, Donald Jr and his fiancée, Kimberly, Eric and his wife, Lara, and Tiffany, however, Trump’s youngest son, Baron was not in attendance.
According to Daily Beast, it had been known in advance that Barron Trump would not be attending the convention due to ‘prior commitments’ per a statement from Melania’s office:
While Barron is honored to have been chosen as a delegate by the Florida Republican Party, he regretfully declines to participate due to prior commitments.
During Trump’s speech on Thursday, he thanked all of his family for being there and also thanked Barron, despite not being present.
He said:
I also wanna thank my entire family for being here. Don, Kimberly, Ivanka and Jared. Eric and Lara. Tiffany and Michael. Barron.
Trump paused at this moment, smiling, then seemingly ‘mumbled’ as per Daily Beast:
We love our Barron.
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Sources used:
MSNBC: ‘The return of Melania Trump’
Daily Beast: ‘Where’s Barron? Trump’s Son Misses RNC After Rally Debut’
Newsweek: ‘Donald and Melania Trump Holding Hands at RNC Takes Off Online’
The New York Times: ‘Melania and Ivanka Trump Fill Out the Family Portrait’