Contrary to her husband Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump has been stressing the importance of following the advice given by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention lately. The First Lady shared a photo of herself with a face mask on social media as a way to further encourage Americans to wear protective coverings when in public places.
The New York Times reports that Melania shared a photo of herself on social media wearing a surgical mask. “As the CDC continues to study the spread of the COVID-19, they recommend that people wear cloth face coverings in public settings where social distancing measures can be difficult to maintain. Remember, this does not replace the importance of social distancing. It is recommended to keep us all safe,” said the message in the photo.
This is the latest in the First Lady’s recent social media updates, echoing the advice of the CDC and emphasizing the importance of wearing face masks or face coverings when going to public places. Melania’s emphasis on these measures comes in as a stark contrast to her husband’s, who views the measure of wearing face masks as optional rather than a necessity.
This is not the first time Melania has had opposing opinions to her husband, however. One instance was the Charlottesville “white nationalist” march where one woman was killed by a white supremacist. The First Lady tweeted about the incident, condemning the supporters of the march. “Our country encourages freedom of speech, but let’s communicate w/o hate in our hearts. No good comes from violence,” tweeted Melania.
In other related news, the First Lady was reportedly reaching out to a few of her fellow First Ladies Aki Abe of Japan, Laura Mattarella of Italy, Brigitte Macron of France, and Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau of Canada. In her phone call with Abe, she offered her condolences to the people in Japan who lost their loved ones to the coronavirus, as well as reaffirmed the United States’ relations with Japan, standing together to face the pandemic. The First Lady also echoed the same sentiments towards Mattarella, sending her condolences to Italians who lost loved ones and pledged solidarity as both have agreed to check in on each other throughout the coming weeks.
Melania previously checked in on Gregoire-Trudeau, who was recovering from the coronavirus a few weeks ago after having tested positive.