Melania Trump hits out at ‘efforts to silence’ her husband ahead of her memoir’s release

America’s former first lady, Melania Trump, has spoken out against “efforts to silence” her husband, Donald Trump.

America’s former first lady, Melania Trump, has spoken out against “efforts to silence” her husband, Donald Trump, in a promotional video for her new book.

The memoir, simply titled Melania, will be released on October 1, about a month before the presidential election between Mr Trump and his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

“The 2020 election result changed our lives forever. It impacted our quality of life, cost of food, gasoline, safety, and even the geopolitical landscape,” Mrs Trump said in a new video promoting the book on her social media accounts over the weekend.

“America is more divided today than ever before,” she added.

“It has become increasingly apparent that there are significant challenges to free speech, as demonstrated by the efforts to silence my husband.”

Mrs Trump married the former president in 2005, when he was a billionaire real estate developer and host of the reality TV series The Apprentice. They share a son together, 18-year-old Barron.

Mr Trump’s other children, Donald Jr, Ivanka, Eric and Tiffany, are from his previous two marriages to Ivana Trump and Marla Maples.

Melania Trump in her Instagram video.

Pretty simple, as covers go.

In her latest video, Mrs Trump did not elaborate on the alleged efforts to “silence” her husband, though they presumably include his deplatforming from some social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, after the riot at the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021.

Thousands of Mr Trump’s supporters attacked police and overran the building in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying his election defeat to the current President, Joe Biden.

Mrs Trump may also have been referring to the criminal charges that have been brought against Mr Trump since he left the White House, for such offences as his alleged illegal retention of government documents, and his alleged illegal attempts to pressure election officials into overturning that loss in 2020.

Mr Trump has already been convicted of falsifying business records to facilitate hush money payments to his mistress, the adult film star Stormy Daniels, ahead of the 2016 election. That affair took place during his marriage to Mrs Trump, including shortly after Barron’s birth.

A jury in New York found the former president guilty on 34 felony counts in that case. He is still awaiting sentencing, which is unlikely to come before the election.

Donald Trump kisses Melania Trump at the Republican convention in July. Picture: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP

In an earlier post last week, the first promoting her book, Mrs Trump said writing the memoir had been a “deeply personal and reflective journey”.

“As a private person who has often been the subject of public scrutiny and misrepresentation, I feel a responsibility to clarify the facts,” she said.

“I believe it is important to share my perspective: the truth.”

Mrs Trump was born with the name Melanija Knavs in Slovenia, then part of Yugoslavia, in 1970. She pursued a modelling career, changing her name to Melania Knauss, then emigrated to the United States in 1996.

She was introduced to Mr Trump at a party in 1998, and after his divorce from Ms Maples in 1999, they became an item.

Mrs Trump at the Republican convention. Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images via AFP

Standard, signed and collector’s edition versions of Mrs Trump’s book cost $40, $75 and $250, respectively, in American dollars.

It is being distributed by Skyhorse Publishing, whose other published works include books by Trump supporters Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, and Alan Dershowitz, a prominent lawyer.

The publisher promises the book will be an “intimate portrait of a woman who has lived an extraordinary life”.

Originally published as Melania Trump hits out at ‘efforts to silence’ her husband ahead of her memoir’s release