When former first lady Melania Trump appeared on stage in the final moments of the Republican National Convention to congratulate her husband former President Trump, he greeted her with a startled expression.
The former president leaned back and opened his arms in a gesture of shock, before returning his spouse’s embrace.
Melania Trump has been mostly absent from the campaign trail. She didn’t appear at her husband’s debate against President Biden in Atlanta last month, and she has rarely been seen or heard from since the former president launched his third presidential campaign last year.
For that reason, the former first lady’s much-hyped appearance at the RNC on Thursday was one of the most closely watched moments of the night. And when Melania Trump did finally appear, wearing a dress that matched her husband’s trademark red tie, she was greeted like a celebrity.
“Obviously, when Melania showed up last night in that red outfit that was iconic, historic. Her presence was just incredible to see,” Amber Schroeder, an alternate Wisconsin delegate, told The Hill.
“I'm with the South Carolina delegation, and we were just thrilled to see her. Alaska was in front of us, and Washington beside us — everybody reacted the same,” noted delegate Susan Aiken.
For weeks, it was unclear as to whether Melania would make an appearance at all. It wasn’t until the third day of the convention that her stepson, Eric Trump, confirmed that she would be on the convention floor on the final day.
While a rare moment for the campaign, her absence at the convention is historically unusual.
“It has been just one of the central rituals of these nominating conventions that you get lots of pictures of the first lady,” Dr. Katherine Jellison, a first lady historian, told The Hill. “So, this is unusual behavior on Mrs. Trump's part.”
For most candidates, their spouse’s prolonged absence would be damaging to their campaign’s image. But, for the Trumps, the behavior is accepted as the norm.
“People have gotten used to the Trumps kind of going their own way and not following the usual, so-called rules of being a political couple,” Jellison explained.
And, while she may not be around very much publicly, the rest of the Trump family has rallied around the former president.
Trump's sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., took to the RNC’s stage, as did their respective partners, Lara Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle. Even Donald Trump Jr.’s 17-year-old daughter Kai Trump took to the stage — characterizing the former president as the average grandfather who snuck her sweets and called to check in on her grades.
“They were gracious. I ran into many of his family members this week throughout the city of Milwaukee,” Schroeder told The Hill.
“It was really just incredible to see Donald Trump having his grandchildren sitting on his lap during such a historic moment and just acting like a grandpa or a normal human being, and not the president of the United States,” she added.
“I am a grandmother, and I know what it's like to have grandchildren, and you can tell when it's real. And I thought what Kai said about her granddad was from her heart,” Aiken said.
While convention attendees were cognizant of the former first lady’s absence for most of the week, they sympathized with her decision given the assassination attempt on her husband last week.
“I think after there's an assassination attempt, everything has to be reevaluated. And so if she's not appearing with him, I would not blame her at all,” Aiken said.
“Somebody just tried to kill her husband,” Schroeder said. “I can tell you something that if my husband, or the man that I love, had just had a bullet graze his ear and came inches within death, it would take a lot of strength for me to show up.”
