Melania Trump booed at youth summit in area her husband called 'rodent infested'

Melania Trump continued the family’s recent trend of being booed at public events on Tuesday. Students at a Baltimore youth summit on opioid awareness jeered and heckled the first lady for more than 30 seconds and talked loudly over her entire brief speech.

She was attending a B’MORE Youth Summit at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) in Catonsville, Maryland, where she spoke to an audience of middle and high school students from the Baltimore area. The event was part of her BE BEST campaign for healthy youth.

While some in the audience cheered, booing was the predominant sound as she took the stage and began speaking.

.@FLOTUS was loudly booed as she took the stage at a youth summit for opioid awareness in Baltimore today. pic.twitter.com/7DiQ5ntPCi

— Monica Akhtar (@Monica_Akhtar) November 26, 2019

The crowd response was not unlike recent reactions her husband received at two sporting events. Donald Trump attended the fifth game of Major League Baseball’s World Series last month in Washington, D.C. and an Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts event days later in New York City. Fans at the baseball game chanted “lock him up” and booed as he was introduced and shown on the Jumbotron and fans at the fight jeered loudly as he entered Madison Square Garden and made his way to his cage-side seats.

Trump’s relationship with the Baltimore community is already strained at best. In a series of July attacks, Trump attacked the area as “a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess,” a “very dangerous & filthy place,” and “the worst run and most dangerous [place] anywhere in the United States.” He insisted, “No human being would want to live there.”

He garnered less than 34% of the vote in Maryland in 2016 and lost resoundingly in both Baltimore city and county.

Melania Trump’s BE BEST campaign’s stated focus is on “well-being, online safety, and opioid abuse.” Though she has made anti-bullying efforts a priority, she has been notably silent on her husband’s repeated online bullying of his critics and of minority communities. In March, she attacked the media for focusing on “idle gossip and trivial stories.” Last year, she proclaimed herself the “most bullied person in the world.”

As a candidate, Donald Trump promised that he would solve the nation’s drug problems. “We’re going to stop drugs from coming in,” he vowed. “People are being poisoned, and we’ve got to get it stopped. And we will get it stopped, and we’re going to get it stopped quickly if I win.”

He has not and his signature health policy proposal — a repeal of the Affordable Care Act — would likely have made the drug crisis even worse by slashing treatment funds.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.