Melania Trump's anti-bullying speech raised an obvious question, and Anderson Cooper asked it


Melania Trump gave her first solo campaign speech for husband Donald Trump on Thursday, telling a crowd in the Philadelphia suburbs that if Trump is elected on Tuesday, her mission as first lady would be to combat the scourge of cyberbullying. "We have to find a better way to talk to each other, to disagree with each other, to respect each other," especially online, she said, criticizing the "bad side" of social media. "Our culture has gotten too mean and too rough, especially to children and teenagers," she said, noting that kids are often hurt when they are "made to feel less in looks or intelligence."
On CNN Thursday night, Anderson Cooper said he didn't "know of anybody who would disagree with that," then asked Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway the obvious question: "The reaction from a number of people, mostly her critics, is that her husband is part of the problem — we all know he's made fun of people's looks, of people's intelligence.... If it's not okay for kids to do this, why is it okay for adults, for Donald Trump?" "Well, it's really not okay for anyone to do it with malicious intent," Conway said, pointing out to "the political class" that most of what's on Twitter isn't about politics.
"Doesn't this start at home?" Cooper pressed. "I mean, isn't the problem at her own dinner table?" "No, it's not at her own dinner table," Conway said. "The fact that her husband's running for president and defends himself sometimes, or tweets things out...." Cooper brought up that time Trump belittled Carly Fiorina, then a GOP primary rival. "Talking about Carly Fiorina's face wasn't a counterattack, that was just an attack," he said. "That was just mean." Conway noted that Trump then told Fiorina at a debate that her face was beautiful, adding, "When it comes to Donald Trump, we're constantly just cherry-picking tweets or certain things that he's said, and not looking at the — go look at his entire Twitter feed, go look at the crowds at his rallies." "It's full of this stuff, though," Cooper said. "Yeah, it's full of a lot of things," Conway said, arguing that Cooper is doing a disservice to Melania Trump's message. Watch. Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Donald Trump takes a cognitive test | May 13 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Tuesday's editorial cartoons feature a 'Bribe Force 1' 747 from Qatar, the concepts of a trade deal, ICE agents surrounding the Statue of Liberty, and cuts to Medicaid.
-
Why are white South Africans emigrating?
The Explainer As the US welcomes Afrikaner refugees, the general exodus of South Africa's white population continues to grow
-
Why the weather keeps getting 'stuck'
In the Spotlight Record hot and dry spring caused by 'blocked' area of high pressure above the UK
-
Qatar luxury jet gift clouds Trump trip to Mideast
speed read Qatar is said to be presenting Trump with a $400 million plane, which would be among the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the US government
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'