Wilmington native working to support GOP congressional candidates
NEW YORK CITY -- The first year of the Trump administration has been one of seismic change for Lara Trump.
When the Wilmington native's father-in-law began what would be a successful presidential bid in 2015, she was a reporter and producer for "Inside Edition." Over the course of the campaign, she stopped away from her media ties and gradually became more involved in touting Trump's name at rallies and on television shows.
In the first year of his presidency, Lara stepped up her efforts to secure him a second term as one of the leading forces in his 2020 campaign. And last fall, she and her husband Eric took some time off last fall to welcome their first child, Eric Luke.
Sitting at her desk in the 2020 campaign offices, Lara said coming back from maternity leave and honing in on the 2018 midterms has been a return to her new normal.
"I've always just wanted to contribute," she said over the phone this week. "I try to be an advocate for the president in any way I can."
But first and foremost, Lara said she has focused on being a mom to Luke. The couple brought the now 5-month-old boy back to Wrightsville Beach in December to visit her family, who still live in town.
"It was a little cold, so we didn't take the boat out on the water like we wanted," she said. "But he got to walk on the beach with us so he could see it for the first time."
Lara said bringing a child into the first family has been a learning experiences and only further highlighted the divisive nature of the position.
"It's been challenging, especially now as a mother, to see the things people say about my son on social media," she said. "It's cyberbullying that we receive every day.
Luke is too young to understand the political divide that targets his family daily, but Lara said it is a conversation she will have with him one day.
"When the time comes, I think it is important he understands what it all means, and what matters is your family and the people close to you," she said.
Back at work, Lara said the campaign have shifted its efforts -- at least in part -- away from the man atop the ticket and to the down-ballot 2018 midterm candidates the president endorses.
"If that means I go around and do some campaigning like in 2016, I would love to do that," she said.
For now, Lara can be seen weekly on the "Real News Update," a news program produced by the campaign and posted on the president's personal Facebook page that recaps the week in the White House and circumvents the established news networks the first family calls "fake news."
For Lara, who had no political experience before the 2016 campaign, the program has afforded her a chance to put what she knows best to work.
"It is reminiscent of my old job and it does make me miss it at times," she said. "It has been great to incorporate a little bit of the old with the new."
Reporter Hunter Ingram can be reached at 910-343-2327 or Hunter.Ingram@StarNewsOnline.com.
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