Melania Trump says impeachment witness should be 'ashamed' for referencing son Barron

(Image credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images)

published 5 December 2019

First lady Melania Trump on Wednesday accused an impeachment hearing witness of being "very angry" and "obviously biased," after she mentioned Trump's son Barron during her testimony.

While appearing before the House Judiciary Committee, Stanford University Prof. Pamela Karlan was asked by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) how Trump's conduct as president was different from a king's behavior. Karlan responded, "The Constitution says there can be no titles of nobility, so while the president can name his son Barron, he can't make him a baron."

Republicans jumped on Karlan for mentioning Barron, 13, and the first lady tweeted, "A minor child deserves privacy and should be kept out of politics. Pamela Karlan, you should be ashamed of your very angry and obviously biased public pandering, and using a child to do it." After making her comment, Karlan expressed remorse for saying Barron's name. "I want to apologize for what I said earlier about the president's son," she said. "It was wrong of me to do that. I wish the president would apologize, obviously, for the things that he's done that's wrong, but I do regret having said that."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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