Melania Trump speaks out about rumours her son Barron is autistic: 'I was appalled by such cruelty'

Published on October 9, 2024 at 11:15 AM by Sharleen McAleavy

Donald Trump's family life has always been the subject of much speculation. Even his youngest son Barron has not been spared.

Melania Trump memoir son Barron rumours autism

On November 5, a new head of state will be elected in the USA. In addition to the candidates, the focus is on their families, who are always the subject of much speculation in the media. The wildest stories are always circulating about Republican Donald Trump and his family in particular.

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For example, there have been repeated reports of alleged problems in his marriage to wife Melania. The rumours have been fueled in the past by the fact that Melania initially did not seem to really support her husband during his election campaign. But even his youngest son Barron Trump is not immune to the publicity. In the past, he is said to have been increasingly confronted with the suspicion that he is allegedly autistic. In her newly published memoir, his mother Melania now reveals how the family dealt with this.

Autism rumours led to bullying

As reported by Newsweek and The Mirror, the rumours that Barron is allegedly autistic intensified in 2016 - when Donald Trump's youngest son was just ten years old. This claim was mainly fuelled by the American comedian Rosie O'Donnell, who said in a deleted tweet:

Barron Trump autistic? If so, what an amazing opportunity to bring attention to the AUTISM epidemic

According to Sky News Australia, she also shared a video of ten-year-old Barron with a caption that suggested Barron was on the autism spectrum.

Melania Trump states that there was no truth to these claims. Rather, they were rumours that had been started out of pure malice.

Bullying as inspiration for new project

However, these allegations had fatal consequences for her son, according to her new memoir, entitled Melania, which was published on October 8. Barron was subjected to nasty bullying, both in real life and online. Mrs. Trump writes:

Barron’s experience of being bullied both online and in real life following the incident is a clear indication of the irreparable damage caused.

While Melania clarifies that there is 'nothing shameful' about autism, she believes that O'Donnell's words were by 'malice'. She continues:

I was appalled by such cruelty,

It was clear to me that she was not interested in raising awareness about autism. I felt that she was attacking my son because she didn’t like my husband.

Nevertheless, Melania has drawn inspiration from the whole ordeal for a new initiative - she launched a project called 'Be Best', which campaigns against cyberbullying. Bullying causes damage that is irreparable, as the former First Lady explained in her book: