Melania Trump has disclosed that her son Barron will not be “autistic”—and claimed that he was bullied in individual and on-line as a result of Rosie O’Donnell tweeted the false declare.
The former first woman addressed long-running claims that the youngest of Donald Trump’s 5 youngsters could also be on the autism spectrum in her new memoir, Melania, which is printed on Tuesday. The Daily Beast has seen a replica of the 184-page e book.
The e book often assaults critics of each Melania and her husband, rehashing lots of the controversies involving the couple since Trump ran for election in 2015.
But it's the passage on O’Donnell which stands out as the most vitriolic about one of many couple’s perceived enemies—and most enlightning about Barron, whose privateness Melania had, till now, fiercely guarded.
The conflict with O’Donnell began when Barron, now 18, was the topic of a merciless viral video in November 2016 which purported to indicate that his conduct had indicators of autism spectrum dysfunction, together with not slapping his arms collectively when he clapped on the finish of his father’s speech to the Republican National Convention that 12 months.
The video was given rocket gas when O’Donnell, the comic and former co-host of The View, tweeted about it in obvious sympathy, saying that it was an “opportunity to bring attention” to what she referred to as “the autism epidemic.”
This was the tweet by Rosie O’Donnell which sparked a livid response by Melania Trump then and in her memoir eight years later. The e book presents an unprecedented perception into her son’s personal life.
@Rosie/Twitter
“I was appalled by such cruelty,” Melania writes. “It was clear to me that she was not interested in raising awareness about autism. I felt that she was attacking my son because she didn’t like my husband.”
The former first woman makes clear that she had watched each second of the video, which was later deleted by the person who posted it, writing, “Someone had painstakingly compiled the footage and added captions like, ‘His hands are moving erratically and aren’t touching each other. Then he was spotted making strange movements in his seat, typical of children with autism.’”
The 184-page memoir incorporates a mixture of autobiography, score-settling and hype for her husband.
Skyhorse Publishing
But, Melania says, his conduct was regular for his age; on the time of the 2016 RNC in Cleveland, Barron was 10.
“There is nothing shameful about autism (though O’Donnell’s tweet implied that there was), but Barron is not autistic,” she writes.
She accuses O’Donnell of “sheer malice,” and calls it “devastating as a parent.” “It felt like my heart was breaking into pieces.”
O’Donnell deleted the tweet and apologized for it, saying that certainly one of her daughters was on the autism spectrum, shortly after Melania hired a hard-charging attorney to go after the unique poster, who additionally deleted the video.
But in the e book she writes, “Barron’s experience of being bullied both online and in real life following the incident is a clear indication of the irreparable damage caused.” It is the primary time she has instructed that bullying of Barron went past on-line trolling and into his offline expertise as a toddler.
Rosie O’Donnell’s tweet about Barron got here simply two weeks after he was seen along with his dad and mom at his father’s election-night victory celebration in New York.
Carlo Allegri/Reuters
She additionally attributes O’Donnell’s tweet to the long-running feud between the comic and her husband, which began in 2006 and which was pursued obsessively by the then-star of The Apprentice on Twitter for years. It spilled into his first presidential marketing campaign when he was challenged by then-Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly on the first Republican debate. When she stated, “You've called women fat pigs, dogs, slobs, disgusting animals,” Trump raised his finger to interrupt and smiling, stated, “Only Rosie O'Donnell.”
The memoir by the previous first woman is being launched only a month earlier than election day. It is printed by Skyhorse Publishing—which has additionally launched books by RFK Jr. expressing anti-vaccine views, and a memoir by Woody Allen which had been canceled by its preliminary writer—and distributed by Simon & Schuster.
Melania has already revealed that she is at odds together with her husband’s social gathering over abortion, saying that she is uncompromising in her views about reproductive rights. “Why should anyone other than the woman herself have the power to determine what she does with her own body?” she writes. “A woman’s fundamental right of individual liberty, to her own life, grants her the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes.”
In distinction her husband appointed three Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade; has vacillated on whether or not he would signal a nationwide abortion ban (he at the moment claims he wouldn't); flip-flopped on whether or not he would help, as a Florida resident, a poll measure which might overturn its present six-week abortion restrict (he now says he'll vote to maintain the six-week restrict); and beforehand stated there ought to be “some form of punishment” for ladies who terminate a being pregnant.
The e book, as seen by the Daily Beast, is very supportive of Trump general and far of it's devoted to boasting about her time as First Lady whereas complaining about “the media” and different perceived critics.
But it has a by line of her love for Barron, whom she describes in one passage when he's nearly 14 as a “remarkable young man.” “Barron possesses a rare combination of intelligence, charm, and diligence,” she writes. “With a circle of friends, a thirst for knowledge, and a range of hobbies, Barron continued to astound me with his growth and potential.”
The e book by his mom describes Barron, now 18, as having a “circle of friends, a thirst for knowledge, and a range of hobbies.” He made his political debut with a fist-pump at a rally held by his father in July.
Marta Lavandier/AP
She doesn't present an replace on Barron for readers, however the 6-foot-7 18-year-old is now a freshman at New York University’s Stern School of Business, the place a few of his professors are open critics of his father’s financial insurance policies. Barron is now residing in Trump Tower, somewhat than in a dorm on the faculty in decrease Manhattan, and Melania has instructed that she resides with him, telling Fox News’ Ainsley Earhardt that she will not be “an empty nester.”
Intriguingly the e book’s mud jacket says of Melania, “She resides in Palm Beach, Florida, with her family.”
