...
By Greg Price
Staff Writer
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
First lady Melania Trump responded Wednesday to recent speculation about her whereabouts following a kidney procedure earlier this month by attacking the media and offering assurance to supporters that she was at the White House "working hard" to help "children & the American people."
Trump, who has not been seen in public in the last 20 days, accused the media of "working overtime speculating where I am & what I'm doing" in a Twitter message that many social media users panned and questioned the authorship of.
"I see the media is working overtime speculating where I am & what I'm doing. Rest assured, I'm here at the @WhiteHouse w my family, feeling great, & working hard on behalf of children & the American people!" the first lady tweeted from her official account.
Read More on U.S.
Comedian Sarah Silverman was one of many to chime in and wonder whether it was actually Melania Trump who fired off the tweet.
Others speculated without evidence that the tweet was a sign that Melania Trump was not in the best of health.
The language used in the tweet, especially the criticism of the media, led some Twitter users to ponder if President Trump had actually authored the tweet. The president has frequently chastised the media over coverage of his administration.
The message could also have been penned by the president's top social media director, Dan Scavino, who has been reported to have access to President Trump's account and issue tweets.
Melania Trump had an embolization procedure, often a treatment for a benign tumor, on May 14 at Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, the White House announced earlier this month.
She was expected to remain at the center for the rest of the week following the surgery and returned back to the White House as scheduled. Normally, a patient does not have an extended hospital stay following the out-patient procedure, but experts also claimed the first lady's status led to the extra precaution.
The president later announced on Twitter that his wife was in "good spirits" and he would soon be visiting her in the hospital.
But the first lady's absence from the public eye, missing events on Memorial Day, only served to increase speculation. Yet it was she who was behind the silence about her health, Politico reported Wednesday citing people familiar with the situation.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines