November 02, 2016
Melania Trump mostly has remained out of the spotlight since the Republican National Convention, where her introductory speech was met with sharp accusations of plagiarism.
But with the election just six days away, she is hitting the campaign trail on behalf of her husband, Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee. Her first campaign speech will come Thursday afternoon at a rally in Berwyn, Chester County.
She is expected to address the ways a Trump Administration would benefit American women, children and families, according to a press release issued Wednesday by the Trump campaign. She also will share her story and discuss the "dedicated, strong and committed" First Lady she would become.
Shortly before Melania Trump appears at the rally, the Clinton campaign plans to hold a press conference outside the Main Line Sports Center to denounce Donald Trump's treatment of women.
Donald Trump came under heavy scrutiny last month after a 2005 recording surfaced in which he vulgarly boasted of the way he did not wait to kiss or sexually touch women. In the ensuing days, several women came forward alleging Trump had sexually assaulted them. Trump has denied the assaults.
Despite the accusations, Trump has narrowed the gap at the polls. FiveThirtyEight.com, which uses a model to track and analyze polls, gives Democrat Hillary Clinton a three or four-percentage point advantage nationally, down from seven points in mid-October. The model gives Trump a 29 percent chance of winning the Electoral College, the highest probability he has seen since early October.
Clinton leads by 11 points in Pennsylvania, a state viewed by many as essential to Trump's chances, according to the latest poll released by Franklin & Marshall College.
Melania Trump is being dispatched to encourage voters to head to the polls on Tuesday. In a joint interview last week with her husband, Trump told ABC News that she had not been on the campaign trail because her priority is caring for their 10-year-old son, Barron.
Melania Trump spoke at the RNC in July. A portion of her address closely resembled remarks given by Michelle Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, leading to accusations of plagiarism.
The Trump campaign later said Melania had read passages of Obama's speech to her speechwriter, as an example of a message that inspired her. The speechwriter later included some of those passages in Melania's speech without checking transcripts of Obama's speech, the campaign said.
Now, Melania steps back into the spotlight in the Philly suburbs, where Trump and his allies have campaigned several times.
