Melania Trump launched her Be Best initiative back in May to promote social, emotional and physical health for all children worldwide.
“What is it about social media, because I remember you talking about this during the campaign… what happened to you personally, or what did you see personally, that you thought you wanted to tackle this issue?” ABC News’ Tom Llamas asked Melania in an exclusive interview, from which clips have been released.
The interview, taped last week during her first major solo trip to Africa, will air in full Friday night.
“I could say I’m the most bullied person on [sic] the world,” she responded. When Llamas pressed her about it, she added that she’s “one of” the most bullied people in the world, “if you really see what people saying [sic] about me.”
“That’s why,” she explained, “…my Be Best initiative is focusing on social media and online behavior.”
Watch this exchange below:
EXCLUSIVE: First lady Melania Trump says her “Be Best” policy platform targeting online bullies is personal. “I could say that I’m the most bullied person in the world,” she tells ABC. https://t.co/iiEv5Z3ijv pic.twitter.com/CWZ7g9by27
— ABC News (@ABC) October 11, 2018
During the ABC News interview, Llamas also asked Melania if she has the most control over her husband’s decisions as President. “Oh, I wish,” she responded, laughing.
“I give him my honest advice and honest opinions,” she said, “and then he does what he wants to do.”
The full interview special, called “Being Melania – The First Lady,” airs Friday, October 12 at 10:00 p.m. ET on ABC. You’ll hear Melania Trump talk about the infamous “I really don’t care” jacket she wore while boarding a flight to the U.S.-Mexico border, the #MeToo movement and her husband’s affair accusations.
Melania Trump: Be Best
Be Best from Melania Trump is described as a policy initiative dedicated to helping the world’s children be the best they can be.
Be Best focuses on “some of the major issues facing children today, with the goal of encouraging children to BE BEST in their individual paths,” reads a White House statement, “while also teaching them the importance of social, emotional and physical health promote children’s social and emotional well-being.”
“We can and should teach social and self-awareness, positive relationship skills and responsible decision making,” Melania said at the Be Best launch, per CNBC. “Let us teach our children the difference between right and wrong, and encourage them to Be Best in their individual paths in life.”
She discussed the three pillars on which Be Best is based: well-being (physical and emotional health), responsible social media use and challenging the opioid crisis and its negative effects on children.
“When children learn positive online behaviors early on, social media can be used in productive ways and can effect positive change,” Melania said at the time. “It is our responsibility as adults to educate and remind [children] that when they are using their voices, whether verbally or online, they must choose their words wisely and speak with respect and compassion.”
This, no doubt, clashes with her husband’s aggressive, often childish Twitter habits, which the public knows all too well whether we’re here for it or can’t stand his repeated use of the words “slime ball,” “dummy” and “phony.”
Truly weird Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky reminds me of a spoiled brat without a properly functioning brain. He was terrible at DEBATE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 11, 2015
THE HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE HAS, AFTER A 14 MONTH LONG IN-DEPTH INVESTIGATION, FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF COLLUSION OR COORDINATION BETWEEN THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND RUSSIA TO INFLUENCE THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2018
Since the launch of Be Best, the first lady has visited Ghana, Kenya and other African nations to promote the initiative.
Read more about Be Best at whitehouse.gov/bebest.
