First lady targets cyberbullies as Trump tweets
President’s attacks run counter to her social media efforts
ROCKVILLE, Md. — Under the banner of her “Be Best” campaign, Melania Trump, the first lady, told a group of cyberbullying prevention experts Monday that social media “can be destructive and harmful when used incorrectly.”
Just after she spoke, President Donald Trump unleashed a barrage of tweets in which he called the former CIA director a “hack” and mocked the effectiveness of the Justice Department, among other digital insults on a day of dissonant messaging from the Trump White House.
Melania Trump, whose policy director left the White House a few weeks ago, has kept a light public schedule in promoting her child-focused campaign since she launched it in May. Her visit to the Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention session, held at the Health Resources and Services Administration in a Washington suburb, was one of the more visible efforts that Trump has made on behalf of the campaign.
“In today’s global society, social media is an inevitable part of our children’s daily lives,” Trump said, reading from prepared remarks. “It can be used in many positive ways, but can also be destructive and harmful when used incorrectly.”
The first lady has stuck with cyberbullying prevention as a signature issue despite Donald Trump’s combative posture on Twitter — he has attacked at least 487 people, companies or institutions since declaring his candidacy for the presidency. His targets have ranged from the department store Macy’s to Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia.
Shortly before Melania Trump departed the White House for the meeting in Maryland, Donald Trump attacked the “disgraced and discredited” Mueller and “his whole group of Angry Democrat Thugs” for extensively interviewing Don McGahn, the White House counsel.
“They are enjoying ruining people’s lives and REFUSE to look at the real corruption on the Democrat side — the lies, the firings, the deleted emails and soooo much more,” Trump wrote in a pair of tweets disparaging the investigation. “Mueller’s Angry Dems are looking to impact the election. They are a National Disgrace!”
Over the weekend, the president sent several angry tweets, spurred by a report by The New York Times that revealed McGahn’s extensive cooperation with the special counsel’s office. And days ago, Trump called a former White House official, Omarosa Manigault Newman, “that dog” and a “crazed, crying lowlife” on Twitter after she alleged in a publicity campaign for her new book that his mental state had deteriorated.
The president’s tweets were not discussed during the summit the first lady attended. Instead, Lauren Culbertson, who manages public policy for Twitter, touted the platform’s anti-bullying tools as Melania Trump sat in the audience.
“We have strong rules against abusive behavior,” Culbertson said, “One beautiful thing about Twitter is that people come to Twitter to find community and have conversations.”