Melania condemns bullying as Trump tries to get a guy fired on Twitter

First Lady Melania Trump gave a speech denouncing cyberbullying — right as her husband unleashed a series of bullying attacks on current and former U.S. officials, including calling for one to be fired.

Melania Trump participated in a Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention (FPBP) Cyberbullying Prevention Summit in Rockville, Md., Monday morning, and delivered brief remarks at the top of the event.

She told the crowd that “social media is an inevitable part of our children’s daily lives,” and that aside from its positive uses, social media “can also be destructive and harmful when used incorrectly.”

“That is why Be Best chooses to focus on the importance of teaching our next generation how to conduct themselves safely and in a positive manner in an online setting,” she said, referring to her signature “Be Best” initiative.

But even as Melania Trump was delivering that ironic warning, her husband was smack in the middle of a nasty series of tweets attacking a variety of people.

First, Trump spent his morning attacking special counsel Robert Mueller and his team, calling them “thugs” and a “National Disgrace.”

And as the cyberbullying summit got underway, Trump stepped up his own cyberbullying game.

He called former CIA Director John Brennan — who also served as homeland security adviser during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden — “the worst CIA Director in our country’s history.”

Trump also spent his time during Melania’s cyberbullying summit demanding the firing of current Department of Justice official Bruce Ohr, whom Trump has previously threatened with having his security clearance stripped.

Trump asked if Ohr will “ever be fired from the Jeff Sessions ‘Justice’ Department? A total joke!”

This performance comes days after a report that Trump tried to get the first lady to abandon cyberbullying as her signature issue, in order “to avoid questions about how the wife of a notorious Twitter bully could lead a campaign to spotlight anti-bullying and other child wellness efforts.”

Trump has famously used his Twitter feed to bully and attack critics, particularly women and African Americans, and has repeatedly tweeted images suggesting violence against the press.

Even if Melania Trump sincerely cares about ending cyberbullying, her efforts are doomed to failure as long as Trump remains the toddler-in-chief.

But sadly, Melania Trump is right about one thing: Trump’s use of social media is “destructive and harmful” to our country.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.