First Lady Melania Trump is a trooper so she’s probably not as annoyed at being booed at a public event centered on the opioid crisis as your humble blogger is on her behalf.
Mrs. Trump was speaking at an event hosted by the B’More Youth Summit on Opioid Awareness in Baltimore, Maryland. Here is what happened (via the Daily Beast):
The crowd, which already appeared somewhat restless, broke out into loud jeers (and a mix of cheers) when Mrs. Trump took the stage ahead of her speech.
As the audience, made up of more than 2,500 middle and high school students, rained down boos upon the first lady for an extended period of time, the event’s host appeared to try to regain control.
After delivering some brief remarks with the first lady standing near him, Melania eventually took to the podium to deliver her own prepared remarks, only to experience more sporadic booing and a general hum of commotion.
. . .
“I cannot recall another event where she was more negatively received. I believe it is also the first loud booing by an audience at a solo event with Mrs. Trump,” remarked CNN’s Kate Bennett, a pool reporter who noted her extensive history of covering Melania Trump events.
Nice manners, kids.
Most news outlets recalled President Trump’s fraught relationship with the city of Baltimore after the President made some (admittedly colorful) remarks about the city during a spat with the late Congressman Elijah Cummings.
The Beast labels the President’s statements about Baltimore “racist.” But were they? You can wish that he’d restrained himself without believing that to be the case. I think Corrin Rankin (subject of our latest Champion Women profile on the homepage) got it right. She said:
Rankin went so far as to defend President Trump’s blasting the late Rep. Elijah Cummings’ Baltimore district as a “rodent and rat-infested mess,” where “no human being would want to live.” The President was denounced as a racist. Counters Rankin, “Democrats were like, ‘Oh, he's saying these racist things.’ No, he's not racist. He's saying these things because he thinks that people should have clean streets. He thinks black people should live in safe neighborhoods. That's racist? I don't think so.”
There was no excuse for booing a gracious first lady who had come to town to highlight the opioid crisis. The Trumps care deeply about this issue. The President has donated his third quarter salary (around $100,000) to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health. The money will be earmarked “to continue the ongoing fight against the opioid crisis.”
As usual, Mrs. Trump did the right thing. She issued a statement saying, "We live in a democracy and everyone is entitled to their opinion," Mrs. Trump said, "but the fact is we have a serious crisis in our country and I remain committed to educating children on the dangers and deadly consequences of drug abuse."