Melania Trump has long avoided public comment on divisive political issues, though she has voiced support for former President Trump's reelection bid. As first lady, her chief cause was an anti-bullying initiative.
But she emphatically defends abortion rights in her forthcoming memoir "Melania" — even though her husband led the charge to dismantle federal abortion protections and frequently touts it as one of the signature achievements of his time in the White House.
"It is imperative to guarantee that women have autonomy in deciding their preference of having children, based on their own convictions, free from any intervention or pressure from the government," the former first lady writes in the book due out next week, according to a report from The Guardian.
In a black-and-white video posted on the social media platform X on Thursday, she further stressed her view on the issue.
"Individual freedom is a fundamental principle that I safeguard. Without a doubt, there is no room for compromise when it comes to these essential rights that all women possess from birth. Individual freedom," she said.
The news shocked political pundits and anti-abortion activists alike.
"It's hard to follow the logic of putting out the former First Lady's book right before the election undercutting President Trump's message to pro-life voters. What a waste of momentum," Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life, posted on X with a link to a story about Melania Trump's position. "An OCTOBER SURPRISE is supposed to hurt your opponent, NOT your friends."
It's unclear what impact Melania Trump's bombshell announcement could mean in the 33 days left in the razor-thin race to the White House.
Pollsters estimate that just a sliver of the voting population remains undecided. A USA TODAY/Suffolk Poll in August found that about 1 in 10 likely voters surveyed said they would be open to changing their preference in the race or are undecided.
Similarly, September polling from Emerson College/The Hill in key swing states found about 10 percent for each haven't picked between Harris and Trump.
Vice President Harris has made reproductive rights central to her campaign, often highlighting that former President Trump appointed the three Supreme Court justices that helped upend the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that had safeguarded abortion access for years. That decision pushed the issue back to states, opening up a wave of state-wide bans or tight restrictions.
Voters in 10 states will decide measures in November to enshrine abortion rights, including Arizona, Nevada and Florida.
About 61 percent of Americans support abortion in all or most cases, including 38 percent of Republicans, according to an AP-NORC poll conducted in June. Nearly half of the voters surveyed in September said they consider abortion policy to be one of the top issues this election cycle — on par with immigration.
According to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ national polling average, Harris is ahead in the race 50.2 percent to Trump's 46 percent. Forecasters have projected a 55 percent chance of a Harris win, but neither candidate has securely captured the 270 votes needed to win the White House.
Melania Trump rarely grants interviews and hasn't conducted one since revealing her support for abortion rights. She didn't speak at the Republican National Convention in July, as is customary for presidential candidates' partners, and she has not been a fixture on the campaign trail.
Melania Trump sat down with "Fox & Friends" for a one-on-one interview last week and Fox's Sean Hannity on Wednesday to promote her book.
CNN reported Thursday that the former first lady's publisher sought $250,000 in exchange for an interview with her ahead of her book's release.
Such an arrangement is not typical for U.S. news media, and CNN did not agree to pay for an interview.
Melania Trump's team denied any involvement in or knowledge of the proposal.
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