In this op-ed, Teen Vogue Weekend Editor De Elizabeth explains what people are getting wrong about Melania Trump's statement about LeBron James.

First Lady Melania Trump expressed support for LeBron James on Saturday, August 4, just hours after President Donald Trump insulted the athlete and activist's intelligence in a tweet that also attacked CNN anchor Don Lemon.

According to CBS News, the first lady acknowledged James's efforts to open an elementary school designed to support at-risk youth in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. In a statement, Melania's spokesperson Stephanie Grisham said: "It looks like LeBron James is working to do good things on behalf of our next generation and just as she always has, the first lady encourages everyone to have an open dialogue about issues facing children today." Her statement also highlighted Melania's "Be Best" anti-bullying program, adding that the first lady is "open to visiting the I Promise School" as part of her platform.

What she didn’t do was directly denounce Trump’s insult. The statement has struck some people as "taking sides" against Trump's attack on James, with headlines describing it as contradicting her husband's words. But, let’s not give her too much credit. (A White House official even pointed out that Melania wasn’t “taking sides;” rather she was “stick[ing] to what she is focused on, which is using Be Best for what it's intended — to help children.”)

This isn't the first time that Melania has issued a vague statement that addresses a divisive Trump comment or administration policy but fails to explicitly denounce them. In June, the first lady issued a statement on family separation, commenting on the thousands of migrant families who had been split apart as a result of the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy on border crossing. "Mrs. Trump hates to see children separated from their families and hopes both sides of the aisle can finally come together to achieve successful immigration reform," the statement read. "She believes we need to be a country that follows all laws, but also a country that governs with heart."

As others have pointed out, Melania's words regarding family separation were rather empty. Yes, she commented that she "hates to see" children taken from their parents, but her statement was a far cry from outwardly condemning a policy that has been proven to cause lasting trauma on the affected families. What’s more, this round of family separations wasn’t one caused by “both sides of the aisle;” it was put into place by the Trump administration.

The same could be said now about her words for LeBron James. On the surface, it seems that Melania is offering support to the basketball player, but her statement lacks the specific language necessary for it to be a clear rebuttal to her husband's insults. What's more is that there's just enough ambiguity to prevent it from explicitly praising James. Like her stance on family separation, her statement "in support" of James might look good on paper, but doesn't actually say much.

It’s tempting to, as many have, to interpret these incidents as acts of defiance by the first lady. Some have even taken to Twitter, using the hashtag #FreeMelania on social media. But the First Lady has historically been complicit in her husband's racist and misogynistic rhetoric: She backed up Trump's "birtherism" conspiracy theory, which falsely alleged that then-President Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States, and she also supported Trump after he bragged about sexual assault on tape. Her anti-bullying initiative takes aim at cyber-bullying, and yet fails to hold the president himself accountable — despite Trump's penchant for attacking others online. And when she finally went to visit families on the border that were suffering the trauma of separation, she wore a jacket that said “I really don’t care, do u?”

So, excuse us while we fail to fawn over her lukewarm comments about LeBron that simply state the obvious: he’s a pretty great dude doing some pretty great things. If we’re going to give Melania credit for breaking from her husband’s divisive language, she’ll have to take a much stronger stance than that. And even then, it will take a lot more than just a statement to begin to absolve her from the role she’s played in the monumental damage the Trump administration has already caused.

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