Melania Trump said she thinks she is “the most bullied person” in the world based on what “people are saying” about her.
The First Lady was interviewed during her recent trip to Africa to promote her Be Best initiative, which tackles online bullying.
But her comment, during an ABC news interview, has prompted some consternation. Melania is of course married to President Donald Trump, who has frequently been accused of using his position to belittle, mock and well, bully anyone who disagrees with him.
The statement was met with widespread derision as people rushed to point out the treatment of entire groups being discriminated against by the Trump administration.
Here are five other people who might have a thing or two to say about the claim…
Hillary Clinton
Although candidates for America’s most powerful political office can expect a certain level of grief, Trump’s attacks on Clinton were seen as unprecedented.
There’s the “Crooked Hillary” line…
The now infamous “Lock her up” chant which remains a crowd favourite among Trump fans (most recently used against Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein)…
Inevitably this all had consequences far beyond the realms of social media, and Clinton has reportedly received numerous death threats.
Gold Star Families
Even being the parents of a US soldier killed during the Iraq War didn’t stop Trump from attacking Khizr and Ghazala Khan during his campaign for the presidency.
After the couple criticised him during the 2016 Democratic National Convention, Trump accused their pair of having their speech scripted (they denied this) and then went on to insinuate Ghazala did not speak because she is Muslim.
He said: “If you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say. She probably — maybe she wasn’t allowed to have anything to say. You tell me.”
Christine Blasey Ford
Trump openly mocked Christine Blasey Ford’s Senate testimony and the broader #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and assault last week at a rally in Southaven, Mississippi.
In an angry rant, Trump threw doubt on Dr Ford’s accusations of assault against his Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, as his supporters chanted, “We want Kavanaugh!”
“So many different charges,” Trump said of Kavanaugh. “Guilty until proven innocent …. That’s very dangerous for our country. I have it myself all the time. Let it happen to me. Shouldn’t happen to him.”
Serge Kovaleski
Serge Kovaleski is a New York Times reporter who has arthrogryposis, a congenital condition that affects the joints.
During a rally in South Carolina in 2015, Trump did a bizarre impression of him which was widely interpreted as mocking his disability.
Trump denied he was mocking Kovaleski in a duo of tweets in which he yet again mocked Clinton.
Jeff Sessions
Trump’s own staff isn’t immune to his wrath – Jeff Sessions has received a steady drip of mocking statements on Twitter after the Attorney General recused himself from the investigation into possible collusion with Russia, an event that triggered the current Special Counsel investigation.
Sessions has allegedly been called “mentally retarded” and “a dumb Southerner” (though Trump denied the claims, which were made in a book by the veteran investigative journalist, Bob Woodward).
“Weak”…
And accused of having no idea of what is going on in the Justice Department: