First Lady Of The United States, Melania Trump is now under fire after giving conflicting remarks around the #MeToo Movement. This comes barely a week after the First Lady completed her first solo trip to Africa.
The #Me Too Movement is a movement against sexual harassment and assault which went viral in October last year under the hashtag #MeToo which was aimed at creating awareness of the prevalence of sexual harassment especially in the workplace.
In an exclusive interview with US Network ABC in Kenya, when asked about her thoughts concerning the #MeToo movement, the First Lady made remarks that many deem contradictory.
EXCLUSIVE: "I support the women and they need to be heard," first lady Melania Trump tells @ABC’s @TomLlamasABC when asked if she supports the #MeToo movement, but says "you need to have evidence" to accuse someone of sexual assault. https://t.co/0WscAo61xe pic.twitter.com/9SIwJBAd4g
— ABC News (@ABC) October 11, 2018
“If you accuse of something show the evidence… I do stand with women but we need to show the evidence. You cannot just say to somebody, I was sexually assaulted; or you did that to me…”
The First Lady said that victims of sexual assault and harassment need to have hard evidence arguing that the media sometimes goes too far and the way they portray some stories in wrong and incorrect.
Melania Trump has since received backlash online after implying that victims of sexual assault ought to back up their claims with evidence.
https://twitter.com/MrDane1982/status/1050152713990889472
.@FLOTUS I was 17. I had no evidence. It doesn't mean I wasn't raped. https://t.co/0nci2bsVVO
— Victoria Brownworth🎃👻💀 (@VABVOX) October 11, 2018
My God… What a terrible, devastating message to millions of women.
And what an absolute, disgraceful ignorance of the issues. Sexual assault, rape, can be so traumatic the last thing some people could think of is gathering hard evidence.These Trump people are a nightmare.
— (((Orchid))) (@OrchidNYC) October 10, 2018
Her remarks come after Justice Kavanaugh faced an allegation that he sexually assaulted a teenage girl, Christine Blasey when the two were in High School, which the judge denied. Justice Kavanaugh was proven innocent after an FBI probe into the allegations revealed that there was no evidence to support the claims.
President Trump also attacked the #MeToo movement saying, “It is a very scary time for young men in America, where you can be guilty of something you may not be guilty of.”
Speaking at a rally in Mississippi, President Trump also mocked the Christine Blasey for not remembering significant details of the incident when she claimed she was assaulted by Justice Kavanaugh.
“How did you get home? I don’t remember. How’d you get there? I don’t remember. Where is the place? I don’t remember. How many years ago was it? I don’t know. I don’t know.”
He went on: “What neighborhood was it in? I don’t know. Where’s the house? I don’t know. Upstairs, downstairs – where was it? I don’t know – but I had one beer. That’s the only thing I remember. And a man’s life is in tatters. A man’s life is shattered.”