Melania Trump made an unannounced appearance at a youth conference in a Virginia on Sunday, where she promoted “kindness, compassion, and positivity” amid the continued fallout over her husband President Donald Trump‘s disastrous “zero tolerance” immigration policy.
“Kindness, compassion and positivity are very important traits in life,” the first lady said, while speaking at the Students Against Destructive Decisions annual conference on Sunday evening in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia.
Mrs. Trump’s speech — which was part of her Be Best initiative — came just three days after she traveled to McAllen, Texas, to witness the migrant-children crisis firsthand. While boarding the plane, she was photographed wearing a jacket emblazoned with the words, “I Really Don’t Care, Do U” — prompting a firestorm over what it meant.
While Stephanie Grisham, Mrs. Trump’s communications director, said in a statement that “there was no hidden message” surrounding the first lady’s fashion choice, her husband insisted that his wife’s jacket was directed at the “the Fake News media.”
“‘I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?’ written on the back of Melania’s jacket, refers to the Fake News Media. Melania has learned how dishonest they are, and she truly no longer cares!” the president tweeted on Thursday.
On Sunday evening, the first lady seemed focused on conveying a positive message to the children at the event.
“It is far easier to say nothing than it is to speak words of kindness. It is easier to judge quickly than it is to understand. It is often easier to see a glass half-empty than half full,” she said.
Continuing, she remarked: “Nevertheless, you have the power to be a positive force in so many people’s lives. Show respect to each other. Treat your community like your family and look out for one another.”
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After the event she tweeted that she “enjoyed speaking to our future leaders at @SADDNation about the power they have in their schools & communities through positivity & kindness.”
But some critics on Twitter argued that her words rang hollow because of her support for her husband, who models “the opposite behavior.”
“Your husband’s negativity & name calling has me so discouraged,” one commenter said. “How do we help children learn to be kind when our President is modeling the opposite behavior?”
“I applaud what you were trying to do and say to these children but do you not think that you are hypocritical when you support your husband?” said another. “He is the most negative and inhumane leader the US has ever had. He is not a positive role model for your son or any other child.”
And another tweeter wrote, “I wish you were advocating for those kids that are caged by your husband.”
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Mrs. Trump’s visit came on the heels of the president’s decision last week to reverse his administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy, which has resulted in more than 2,000 children being separated from their parents at the border since May.
In a statement outlining the reunification process, the Department of Homeland Security said the U.S. government had reunited 522 migrant children and that the government “knows the location of all children in its custody and is working to reunite them with their families.”
