Melania Trump Tells Fox’s Maria Bartiromo Her Husband ‘Respects’ Her Pro-Choice Views: ‘He Let Me Be Who I Am’
Former First Lady Melania Trump told Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo on Sunday that her husband has known since they met that she is pro-choice when it comes to abortion.
Mrs. Trump sat down with Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures two days before the release of her memoir Melania, in which she discusses the issue at great length in one chapter, she said.
The former first lady’s stance on abortion breaks with many conservatives and is at odds with her husband’s campaign rhetoric regarding the issue. Still, Mrs. Trump wrote in her book and told Bartiromo on Sunday she believes women must have the ability to choose.
She said that was something her husband of 19 years had known about since they met.
“Melania, you also write about abortion in the book,” Bartiromo noted. “You are staunchly for a woman’s right to choose, you are pro-choice. You write, ‘It is imperative to guarantee that women have autonomy in deciding their preference in having children based on their own convictions, free from intervention or pressure from government.’ Have you spoken to President Trump about that before you wrote that in the book?” Mrs. Trump replied:
Yes. He knew my position and my beliefs since the day we met. And I believe in individual freedom. I want to decide what I want to do with my body. I think I don’t want government in my personal business. I think it’s very important. And as I said in the book and it’s very well explained in the chapter, what does really my body, my choice means. Because timing really matters. And also the restrictions. So I encourage people to read it. Because we live in a world that everybody has, should have individual freedom.
Bartiromo commented she found it “interesting” that the wife of a GOP candidate would release a book expressing pro-abortion views just weeks before a presidential election.
“Well, that was not written in the last week or the last month,” Mrs. Trump said. She added:
But that book was written months before, and it was in print months before. So that was my belief and it is my belief, and I wanted to put it in the book because I want to be authentic. I want people to read the book because they could find out a lot of things that were never discussed. I’m very selective what I do, and when I’m doing interviews or not, or where I am or not. And this is my story. This is my perspective and the truth. And there is a lot of misinformation about me – falsehoods written – and falsehoods written about me. So that book, Melania, it will bring my truth and the truth.
Bartiromo responded, “How do you think the Republicans and President Trump have handled this issue?”
Mrs. Trump responded, “He knew my beliefs, as I said, so he knew it would be in the book. He let me be who I am, and he let me believe what I believe. He let me be my own person, and he respects that, and I respect that as I let him be his own person. He has different beliefs, and he will do what he believes.”
When asked if she felt her views on abortion might turn off some conservatives, Mrs. Trump replied, “I don’t worry. Everybody needs to decide what they want to do.”
Watch above via Fox News.
