The legacy of Melania Trump - the most 'closed and contradictory' first lady in US history?
While the planet follows Donald Trump's uprising with the projected defeat in the presidential race against Democratic opponent Joe Biden, First Lady Melania practices what she has done most during the past four years in the White House: silence.
Whether Donald Trump's legacy for the White House and U.S. democracy is subject to polarization and controversy, Melania's legacy in the role that was once occupied by Michelle Obama and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is still unknown.
"Melania was an extremely closed first lady," Kate Andersen Brower, author of the bestseller on contemporary first ladies First Women, tells BBC News Brazil, who discusses the role of 10 first ladies of recent American history.
"She is an encrypted person, even now at the end of her term. And it seems that this is how she wants to be."
For writer Betty Boyd Caroli, author of First Ladies - The ever-changing role (or First Ladies - the ever-changing role), Melania was "largely absent from the work of the first lady".
"In the typical categories that historians use to classify first ladies, such as value for the country, integrity, leadership, intelligence, achievements, courage, public image, value for the president, I predict that she will rank at the bottom of the list ", says Caroli to BBC News Brasil.
For many, however, despite being extremely reserved, Melania would have been an important counterpoint to her husband's belligerence for the past four years in Washington.
Even when she was silent.
Contradictions
It is difficult to describe Melania Trump's season at the White House without noticing the contradictions she exposed when she was in office.
Born in Slovenia in April 1970, Melania worked as a model when she moved to New York in 1996. In 2001, she took up permanent residence in the USA. In 2005, she married Donald Trump and, the following year, became an American citizen.
Her rise brought a series of novelties to the post.
Melania was the first to be born outside the United States since Louisa Adams (wife of President Quincy Adams, who ruled almost 200 years ago). She was also the only one in office not to have English as her mother tongue, the first to have posed naked in a magazine (she appeared on a bed next to another model in the defunct French magazine Max, in 1996) and the first third wife of a acting president.
If the past could suggest a personality questioning traditional or even progressive values, the past 4 years have shown Melania alongside one of the most conservative presidents in recent American history.
Owner of two passports - Melania is also the first American naturalized first lady - she was part of a hypernationalist government, whose slogan was "America First" and which imposed a series of protectionist policies, turned inward, in a rupture with the tradition of defending the free market seen in Washington.
Anti-bullying campaign on the internet
Melania's only political endeavor in office was the BeBest campaign, created in 2018 to act against the use of opioids among children and bullying on social networks.
On the White House website, the venture says to seek "interactions on the internet that are uplifting, positive and respectful.
"I can say that I am the most bullied person in the world," Melania said in a rare interview with ABC in 2018.
But the discomfort does not seem to extend to her husband's actions.
Trump has already said that teenage activist Greta Thunberg, diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism, should "work on her anger management problem."
Throughout the presidential campaign, he used his social media to call Joe Biden a "sleepy Joe" - Biden will be 78 in November.
Four years ago, he was even tougher with opponent Hillary Clinton in the first presidential race, whom he constantly called "cheater".
"The campaign (BeBest) never really got off the ground, with competent teams and visible projects", evaluates researcher Betty Boyd Caroli.
Jacket
But the biggest contradiction in Melania Trump's biography came in June 2018, when she wore an olive green jacket from the Spanish brand Zara, which costs $ 39, with the words "I really don't care, do you?".
The outfit had been chosen for a visit to shelters in Texas where immigrant children were kept who were separated from their parents while trying to cross the border into the United States.
The attitude gained global negative repercussions and raised the question of whether the choice of the piece had been intentional. Amnesty International in the US said at the time "shocked by the first lady's stark lack of empathy".
"The coat she wore at the border was her most controversial moment and is still very confusing. Why would she step into your message of empathy with a petty statement like that?" Asks Kate Andersen Brower in an interview with BBC News Brasil.
"I can't think of any positive episode left for the story," adds writer Betty Boyd Caroli.
"She had memorable negative episodes," she continued, citing the controversial jacket.
The First Lady's explanations were conflicting.
"I would prefer (the media) to focus on what I do and my initiatives, rather than what I wear," Melania told ABC.
"Obviously I didn't put on my children's jacket. I used the jacket to get on and off the plane. And it was for the people and the left media who were criticizing me," she continued.
The critical mention of the press contradicted her response from a spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, who days earlier described the piece as "a simple jacket" without "hidden messages".
Discomfort with the press
Melania's relationship with the press has never been fluid.
In an interview with Fox News in 2018, the first lady was asked what would be the most difficult thing to deal with in her position.
"The opportunists," she replied. "Those who use my name or family name to promote themselves, from comedians to journalists to actors and authors."
For writer Brower, Melania's rare statements suggest a woman "unhappy with the position and who felt that, like her husband, she was mistreated by the press".
"She felt uncomfortable at the White House and it showed every day," says Brower.
In her first appearance alone to support her husband's October 27 election campaign in Pennsylvania, Melania once again criticized the press.
"The media creates an image of my husband that I don't recognize," she said.
And she defended that people get information through social networks. "For the first time in history, the citizens of this country can hear their president directly and instantly every day," she said, making a reservation about the president's tone.
"I don't always agree with the way he says things," she said, lulled by laughter in the audience.
Plagiarism
The wear and tear on the press was already strong even before Trump's first election.
In the spotlight on the first day of the National Republican Convention in 2016, she repeated, in a speech, phrases identical to those used by predecessor Michelle Obama at the 2008 Democratic convention - which has led to accusations of plagiarism, which she denies.
In one passage, she said: "My parents marked me with the value of working hard for what you want in life; that your word is your guarantee and that you must keep what you say and keep your word; that you treat people with respect. "
Michelle's 2008 speech had the following excerpts: "Barack and I were created with many equal values: that you work hard for what you want in life, that your word is your guarantee and that you do what you say you will do; you treat people with dignity and respect. "
Melania Trump's speech continued: "[My parents] taught me to show values and morals in my daily life. This is the lesson I continue to pass on to our son. And we need to pass these lessons on to many generations to come, because we want our children in that nation know that the only limit to their achievements is the strength of their dreams and their willingness to work for them. "
In 2008, Michelle had said: "Barack Obama and I started to build our lives guided by these values, and to pass them on to the next generations. Because we want our children, and all the children of that nation, to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them. "
Empathy
Four years later, however, at the same Republican convention, Melania had her "best time", according to writer Kate Andersen Brower.
"It was when she offered sympathy and compassion for people who had lost loved ones to the coronavirus," she says.
"She did her best when she softened her husband's image by trying to connect with the children."
That August 25, in the garden of the White House, Melania's speech was described as the empathic voice of Trumpism.
"I want to acknowledge the fact that, since March, our lives have changed dramatically. An invisible enemy, the covid-19, has swept our beautiful country and has had an impact on all of us. My deepest condolences go out to everyone who has lost loved ones and my prayers. they go to those who are sick or in pain. I know that many people are anxious and some feel helpless. I want you to know that you are not alone. ", he said.
She also addressed women's rights.
"On the north lawn of the White House, we opened an exhibition dedicated to women's suffrage. The exhibition invited children from all over the country to send works of art in honor of the significance of this important moment in the history of women. When I was judging the entries, I reflected on the impact of women's voices on our nation's history and how proud I would be to vote for Donald again in November. We must ensure that women are heard and that the American dream continues to prosper, "said the first lady.
One of the comments that most resonated was the discreet mention of racial inequality in the country.
"Like all of you, I reflected on racial unrest in our country. It is a harsh reality that we are not proud of parts of our history. I encourage people to focus on our future while learning from our past. We must remember that today we are all one community made up of many races, religions and ethnicities, "he said.
Expressions and gestures alongside Trump
While speaking very little publicly, Melania is a loved and hated figure on the internet mainly for the skittish way she often behaves when she is next to her husband.
The first memes emerged on January 20, 2017, the day of the presidential inauguration, when she automatically ends a yellow smile soon aimed at Trump after her husband turns away.
In May 2017, on an official visit to Israel, the first of a series of maneuvers took place to avoid holding hands with Donald Trump. As they both walk towards a red carpet and Trump tries to reach her, Melania is seen giving a kind of light slap to keep the president's hand away.
The scene was repeated several times - one of the best known was in April 2018, at the White House, when Trump insistently tries, first with his index finger, then with his little finger, to win the attention of his wife, who remains immobile.
Trump decides to extend all his fingers at once and involves Melania's right hand, which shows no reaction.
The election campaign brought similar moments, but what will remain for posterity was recorded at the end of the October 23 presidential debate.
While the now president-elect Joe Biden won an effusive hug from his wife, Professor Jill Biden, Trump and Melania hold hands for a few seconds - a scene that ends when Melania separates from her husband's hands to walk out of the studio.
Legacy
In an interview in 1999, many years before her life brought her into the White House, Melania spoke about the post of first lady to The New York Times.
"I would be very traditional. Like Betty Ford or Jackie Kennedy," she said.
More than 20 years later, comparisons between Melania and the wife of John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, are limited to clothing.
"She tried (and succeeded) several times to imitate her, at least in terms of fashion," points out a report in Marie Claire magazine, published in the USA.
"But what Melania, Donald Trump and their administration fail to recognize is that Jackie was much more than his iconic style. His clothes were an extension of his character. Jackie Kennedy's artistic roots - she studied history, literature, art and French at Vassar College and spent time studying abroad in Paris - they gave a meaning to his fashion ", says the text.
To BBC News Brasil, specialist Betty Carole highlighted Melania's weaknesses in the job compared to other first ladies.
"She practically did not campaign for any of her husband's candidacies for the job," she says. "And she was slow to take on even the minimum duties of a presidential wife, such as overseeing the White House's East Wing and organizing sightseeing tours."
"I can't think of any memorable episode. People who see the First Lady as a stylist, in clothes and hairstyles, may have some suggestions on that subject," continued the writer, for whom Melania's role in the White House was not underestimated:
