Melania Trump blasts Democrats for skipping her White House event on "revenge porn" legislation
Washington DC - First Lady Melania Trump recently attended an event at the White House, marking her first solo venture since her husband Donald Trump was re-elected president over a month ago.
On Monday, Melania joined lawmakers for a roundtable discussion regarding the Take It Down Act, a bill that seeks to make the "non-consensual sharing of sexual images" a felony, and force websites and social media to remove such content, along with those generated by AI, commonly referred to as "deepfake porn."
In a very brief speech, Melania argued that, "addressing this issue is essential for fostering a safe, and supportive environment for our young people."
The bill recently passed a vote in the Senate, and is soon expected to head to Congress for another vote.
The bill was a bipartisan effort, as it was co-sponsored by Republican Senator Ted Cruz and Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and has overwhelming support from both sides of the aisle.
Despite this, the first lady took a shot at Democrats for not attending her event.
"I was heartened to learn that Sen. Cruz and Sen. Klobuchar united to prioritize this fundamental matter," Melania said. "I must admit, I expected to see more Democrats here with us today.
"Surely, as adults, we can prioritize America's children ahead of partisan politics," she added.
Senator Ted Cruz shares the origin of his bill
During the discussion, Sen. Cruz, explained that his involvement with the legislation was inspired by Elliston Berry, who came to him with her story after Snapchat refused to remove an AI-generated sexual image of her shared on social media by a classmate at her high school.
Elliston, who was also in attendance alongside another victim, shared her story, describing it as her "innocence being stripped away," and said she was there to "fight for the freedom of so many survivors."
Cruz promised the two victims that he will have Donald Trump give him the "big" pens he will use to sign the bill into law, and jokingly told the first lady, "Your husband does everything big."
Cover photo: Collage: SAUL LOEB / AFP