Names and faces
■ First lady Melania Trump on Monday condemned the violence at the Capitol last week by a pro-Trump mo band pushed back on what she characterized as “salacious gossip” and “unwarranted personal attacks” against her. “It is inspiring to see that so many have found a passion and enthusiasm in participating in an election, but we must not allow that passion to turn to violence,” the first lady said in a statement released by the White House. “Our path forward is to come together, find our commonalities, and be the kind and strong people that I know we are.” On Wednesday, a mob comprised of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol in a rampage that left five people, including a police officer, dead. The first lady also spoke out against those who had questioned her silence about the episode. “I find it shameful that surrounding these tragic events there has been salacious gossip, unwarranted personal attacks, and false misleading accusations on me — from people who are looking to be relevant and have an agenda,” she said. “This time is solely about healing our country and its citizens. It should not be used for personal gain.” Her comments appeared to be directed at Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former adviser who wrote in a weekend Daily Beast piece that Melania Trump has been an enabler of her husband and has “blood on her hands,” saying that “Melania knows how to ‘Be Best’ at standing up and reading from a teleprompter and not from the heart. She and her husband lack character, and have no moral compass.”
■ Miya Ponsetto, the woman who wrongly accused a Black teenager of stealing her cellphone and tackled him at a New York hotel, appeared to back off her apology in a TV interview that aired Monday, suggesting without evidence that maybe he did try to steal her phone after all. “So, maybe it wasn’t him but at the same time how is it so that as soon as I get asked to leave the premises after I had accused this person of stealing my phone, how is that all of a sudden they just miraculously have my phone at the back?” Ponsetto said in the interview on “CBS This Morning.” In the first part of the CBS interview, broadcast Friday, Ponsetto told host Gayle King, “I don’t feel that that is who I am as a person. I don’t feel like this one mistake does define me.” The interview was conducted Thursday, hours before Ponsetto, 22, was arrested over the Dec. 26 confrontation with 14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr. She was charged in New York with injuring a child, attempted assault and other counts. Security video shows Ponsetto frantically grabbing at Keyon as he tries to get away from her. The teen’s father, jazz trumpeter Keyon Harrold, has said that Ponsetto’s phone had actually been left in an Uber and was returned by the driver.