Former Congressman Chaffetz blasts ‘liberal media’ in op-ed supporting Melania Trump
Former congressman Jason Chaffetz who represented Utah’s 3rd Congressional District from 2009 to 2017 recently issued an opinion piece through Fox News calling Melania Trump an ‘outstanding First Lady’ and saying that the ‘liberal media have treated her unfairly’.
Chaffetz tells ABC4 News of his recent op-ed on Mrs. Trump, “They never even gave her a shot. They had it in for her before Donald Trump was even sworn into office. Looking back, four years later, I think she did an absolutely perfect job. It is hard enough living in that bubble, trying to raise a son, but I think they have just been horrific to her and never seriously wanted to take an objective look at her or her message.”
In the op-ed published over the weekend, Chaffetz says that ‘Melania Trump could never dream of receiving the fawning media coverage now being showered upon Jill Biden’.
“If it’s a democrat, they are going to fawn over you like there is no possible way you could do anything wrong and that’s fine,” Chaffetz tells ABC4 News. “I don’t want to take anything away from Mrs. Biden but whatever happened to objective reporting about Melania Trump?… I am not expecting puff pieces but at least do something genuine to share her story.”
Chaffetz goes on to say in the op-ed that the first lady’s accomplishments are one to recognized as an ‘exceptional first lady’. During her time as the first lady, she has launched an anti-bullying campaign, conducted outreach to countries abroad all while serving as ‘an inspiration to those trying to integrate into American culture’.
Melania Trump is the second first lady born outside of the U.S. and is the only first lady to become a naturalized U.S. citizen. Trump is originally from Slovenia and moved to America in 1996 at the age of 26. President Trump and Melania married in 2005. She became a citizen of the U.S. in 2006.
In the Utahn’s op-ed, Chaffetz even makes the point of the lack of stories on the First Lady’s wardrobe choices saying, “Despite her successful career as a fashion model, we didn’t get the barrage of stories about Mrs. Trump’s wardrobe choices that bombarded us when Michelle Obama was first lady. Many didn’t miss such coverage, but the discrepancy is telling.”
President Trump and Melania have one son together, Barron, who is 14-years-old. Over the past four years, Barron has seen some mean spirited coverage and the White House even had to ask the news media to give the teenager his space. Chaffetz calls Melania a ‘wonderful mother in the most difficult situation’ saying that the children of presidents live in a bubble most of us can’t fathom.
The former congressman points out that her ‘Be Best’ campaign coincided with a drop in drug overdose deaths and in increased life expectancy. The Be Best campaign focused on wellbeing, online safety, and opioid abuse.
Chaffetz calls the media coverage of Melania Trump ‘unfair and biased’ and also a missed opportunity to showcase a First Lady who is not only an immigrant but is fluent in five languages and comes from ‘far outside the elite circles of government’.
Since Chaffetz retired from congress in 2017, he has authored a couple of books and is a frequent contributor on various Fox News Network shows. Prior to his time representing Utah, he was Chief of Staff to the Governor of Utah. He graduated from Brigham Young University and was a part of the local business community for 16 years.
