Melania Trump is opening up about a rumor spread about her son, Barron Trump, that completely shattered her heart. In an excerpt obtained by the Daily Beast from her new memoir, the former first lady recalled the time when rumors circulated in 2016 that Barron was on the autism spectrum. Breaking her silence, she spoke about how her son experienced harsh bullying because of it. Melania released on Tuesday, October 8, 2024.
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Rosie O’Donnell sparked the rumors.
Television personality Rosie O’Donnell reshared a video on Twitter (now X) of Barron in 2016. She suggested that the clip of him, aged 10 at the time, displayed signs of autism. “Barron Trump Autistic?” is what Rosie had commented on the video. “If so — what an amazing opportunity to bring attention to the AUTISM epidemic.”
Barron suffered the effects of the speculation.
“Barron’s experience of being bullied both online and in real life following the incident is a clear indication of the irreparable damage caused,” Melania wrote in her book. “There is nothing shameful about autism (though O’Donnell’s tweet implied that there was), but Barron is not autistic.”
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Melania said Rosie's comments were from 'sheer malice.'
Melania called Rosie’s comment “sheer malice.” Continuing, she said, “I was appalled by such cruelty. It was clear to me that she was not interested in raising awareness about autism. I felt that she was attacking my son because she didn’t like my husband.”
“Someone had painstakingly compiled the footage and added captions like, ‘His hands are moving erratically and aren’t touching each other. Then he was spotted making strange movements in his seat, typical of children with autism,’” she described the reshared video of Barron.
The mother was heartbroken.
Melania shared that the experience was “devastating as a parent” and it felt like her heart “was breaking into pieces.” At the time, she took legal action and Rosie deleted the tweet. She then apologized on her website after facing backlash, saying that her post “had nothing to do with Donald.”
She said she had 'no ill will.'
Continuing, Rosie said that though Donald Trump is a “trigger” to her, she wasn’t attacking his son. “I have no ill will for his children – or any children – and if u knew anything about me – u would know that.”
Rosie and Donald’s feud goes back to 2007, when she called him a “snake-oil salesman.”
