Tuesday on HLN’s “S.E. Cupp Unfiltered,” host S.E. Cupp said it would be heroic for “for a generation of young girls” if first Lady Melania Trump left her “jerk” husband President Donald Trump in light of reports alleging several extramarital affairs, unlike Hillary Clinton staying with former president Bill Clinton.
Cupp said, “I’ve heard the stories swirling around, the president described in a number of ways, scandalous, tabloid trash. But the word that comes to my mind is humiliating. The president of the United States is being sued by a porn star over an alleged affair they had years ago. It is humiliating for the country certainly that the figurehead of the Republican party—not too long ago the party of family values—is alleged to have had another affair with a Playmate just after his son was born is humiliating for the GOP, or it should be anyway. But worst of all, that Donald Trump has very likely cheated on his wife multiple times. And that this is all playing out very publicly is particularly humiliating for Melania Trump. While it’s hard to imagine she didn’t know who she married, she’s also just a woman, a wife, and a mother, like the rest of us. There’s a real person in there, and she must be reeling.”
She continued, “What she does next is no small thing. It might just be tabloid fodder to gossip rags or political chum for Hill watchers, but for a generation of young girls, Melania’s next move could be formative. It was to me. I was just 13 when word of Bill Clinton’s affairs hit the campaign trail and imperiled his 1992 presidential run. I had just voted for Clinton in my school’s mock primary. I was paying close attention. Burned in my mind is the image of Hillary sitting next to Bill in a “60 Minutes” interview trying to put a fresh veneer on her embattled candidate husband.”
She added “It was, of course, just the first of many times she would endure the particular humiliation Bill would inflict, stories of affairs, inappropriate behavior, a graphic White House tryst with an intern, even a rape allegation, and put on a strong united front. Over those years, Hillary became for me what she became for many women, the literal definition of stand by your man.”
Cupp concluded, “Now Melania may not have a political career to consider, but as first lady, she is an inherently important figure in American politics, and women are watching. Particularly young women. Melania should do for this generation of girls what Hillary Clinton did not do for mine, and leave her jerk of a husband.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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