Former United States President Donald Trump has spoken about his wife Melania’s absence from the 2024 presidential campaign. She was recently spotted on Easter Sunday at Mar-a-Lago with her son Barron Trump, where the entire family had gathered for brunch. However, she has been absent from the former US President’s campaign events and multiple court trials.

Her husband’s vote-casting in the Florida primary in February was their last election-related event together, as per a report in the Independent. When asked if was going to campaign with him for the November 2024 elections, she said, “Stay tuned”.

When her husband was campaigning in 2016 and 2020, Mrs Trump frequently stayed at home. She clarified that she wanted to be present for Barron, who was nine at the time, in an interview with 20/20 in 2015. Even after Mr Trump won in 2016, she did not move from the New York penthouse until June 2017.

Discussing her absence from the events, the 45th US President said that Melania Trump would return at an appropriate time. “She’s a private person, a great person, a very confident person, and she loves our country very much. She’ll be – at the appropriate time – she’ll be out there,” Mr Trump said during an interview with Meet the Press in September. Notably, Mr Trump also said that his wife “doesn’t need to be out there”.

Mr Trump had also suggested that keeping Melania out of the limelight during election campaigning was his decision. He said he wanted to “keep her away” from the campaign. “It’s so nasty and so mean,” he said.

In late March, a close aide to the first lady told CNN that Mrs Trump chooses when and how to show up to political functions. On the other hand, it seems that she will become more noticeable as the election approaches. She and her husband will also be hosting a fundraiser on Saturday in West Palm Beach. She will also be present on April 20 at a Mar-a-Lago event for the Log Cabin Republicans.

Her absence sparked “missing” posters to be posted online around the time of the Iowa caucuses. A picture of Mrs Trump with the words, “Have you seen this woman?  Where is our First Lady? Why is Donald Trump hiding her? We miss her. Please call 561-832-2600 if found” was shared widely. 

After a poll revealed that Michelle Obama, former First Lady of the United States, was the leading choice to replace President Joe Biden as the Democratic party’s candidate for the presidential elections, her office has revealed her stand regarding the upcoming presidential elections, as per a report in NBC News.

Michelle Obama has no intentions to run for President, even though many of her supporters are looking forward to this development. She is actively supporting the reelection campaigns of Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden.

In a statement to NBC News, the former first lady’s office made it clear that her plans do not include running for the post of President. Crystal Carson, Director of Communications for her office, said “As former First Lady Michelle Obama has expressed several times over the years, she will not be running for president. Mrs. Obama supports President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ re-election campaign.”

Meanwhile, Obama’s adviser cited her conversation with Oprah Winfrey from last year as evidence of her way of thinking and the reason she would probably never run for office. In a Netflix special, she said, “Politics is hard. And the people who get into it … you’ve got to want it. It’s got to be in your soul, because it is so important. It is not in my soul.”

Last month, she expressed deep fear about the upcoming elections, saying it “haunts” her. “The fact that people think that government-‘eh,, does it really even do anything?’ – and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, does government do everything for us, and we cannot take this democracy for granted.’ And I worry sometimes that we do. Those are the things that keep me up,” she had said.

It is to be noted nearly half of the Democrats who voted in the Rasmussen Reports polls, expressed their choice for someone other than Biden to fight the US Presidential elections. About 48 per cent of the Democrats polled said they approve of the party “finding another candidate to replace Joe Biden before the election in November,” compared to 38 per cent who disapprove.

Michelle Obama got about 20 per cent of votes among other options to replace 81-year-old Joe Biden. The other contenders were Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.