First lady speaks out against bullying on social media

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 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 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.

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 antibullying 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.”

On Monday, Stephanie Grisham, the first lady’s communications director, reiterated much of what the first lady said in March at a similar panel — “She is aware of the criticism but it will not deter her from doing what she feels is right,” she wrote in an email.