The MAGA sphere took offense to a White House reporter asking why the first lady promoted her documentary during a meeting with freed Israeli-American hostages.
Melania Trump, 55, was questioned by CNN’s Betsy Klein on Wednesday about why she promoted her film Melania while meeting with freed hostages Keith Siegel and his wife, Aviva, at the White House. This sent supporters of the Trump administration into an online crisis, accusing the reporter of being “rude” and a “ghoul.”
When confronted by Klein on why she was bringing up the film—from which she made $28 million—in that setting, Melania denied having done so.
“This is not promotion,” Melania responded to Klein. “We are here celebrating the release of the hostages, of Aviva and Keith. They were in Washington, D.C., and they called me and they said they would like to come over to thank me and to give hugs. That’s why we are here. There’s nothing to do with promotion.”
According to Melania, the first lady “played a key role” in securing Keith Siegel’s release after 484 days in captivity shortly after Donald Trump was inaugurated last year. The documentary also covered Melania’s meeting with Aviva, who was freed after 51 days, in New York afterward.
Melania, when recounting this meeting in the White House’s Blue Room minutes before being questioned by Klein, mentioned the $75 million Amazon-MGM documentary that her husband and others in his orbit have propped up amid dismal reviews.
“It was emotional meeting, and it is captured on camera and available to see in my new film, Melania,” she said. “It was very emotional.”
Right-wing accounts loved Melania’s response to Klein’s question—but attacked the journalist on social media for asking the question.
X user Gunther Eagleman lashed out at the “disingenuous and rude” reporter and fawned over the first lady, who he said responded “gracefully and with class.” But Eagleman did not share with his 1.6 million followers the video of Trump mentioning the documentary, only Klein’s question and her answer.
Nor did former West Virginia House of Delegates member and convicted Jan. 6 rioter Derrick Evans. “WATCH: A reporter tries to frame it as ‘promotion.’ First Lady Melania Trump shuts it down instantly,” he wrote on X.
Elsewhere online, an X user calling herself a “self-taught Trump expert” weighed in: “No matter how much you hate ‘reporters’ you don’t hate them enough. What a ghoul.”
And a self-described “MAGA Republican” with over 22,000 followers grumbled that Klein “should be escorted off the grounds” for having asked that question.
That didn’t happen, but Klein and the rest of the press were ushered out of the room after another reporter asked Melania about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
“We are here to celebrate the release and the life of these two incredible people,” Melania said. “Let’s honor that.”
The White House and Klein did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
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