First lady Melania Trump after speaking at the B'More Youth Summit, Nov. 26, 2019, at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. She was greeted by cheers and boos as she urged students to avoid misusing drugs. (Photo: Barbara Haddock Taylor/The Baltimore Sun via AP AP)
Baltimore, the city President Donald Trump called “rat-infested,” turned out a tough crowd Tuesday for first lady Melania Trump, who met cheers and prolonged boos during her speech at a youth summit urging students to avoid misusing drugs.
Her audience of middle and high school students remained noisy throughout her entire five-minute address and booed again when she finished.
“As she took the stage at approximately 11:25 a.m., (the first lady) was greeted with some cheers but also a resounding chorus of loud boos, which lasted for about one minute,” according to the White House transcript of the FLOTUS pool report.
“More talking over her remarks went on for about the first two minutes of her speech. The talking has died down, but there is still a lot of audience noise — lots of talking in the background.”
The White House expected about 2,500 attendees at the summit but reporters in the pool said there were only about half that present, possibly fewer.
Kate Bennett, who covers the first lady for CNN and was in the pool, reported she could not recall another solo event where Trump was more negatively received.
“I believe it is also the first loud booing by an audience at a solo event with Mrs. Trump,” she wrote.
Check that: in my years covering her, this was the first booing of @FLOTUS by a crowd at one of her solo events. https://t.co/Ac9Qgn7TSL
The first lady has been using her prominence to spotlight programs she thinks can help young people, whether it’s to teach them to be positive online or to avoid drug abuse and addiction.
She went to the University of Maryland’s Baltimore campus to address the B’More Youth Summit about opioid abuse, which has become one of her signature causes as part of her “Be Best” youth campaign.
She was dressed in a caramel suede trench coat with matching suede knee-high heeled boots. When she was introduced, students simultaneously booed and cheered.
When the audience remained rowdy after she began to speak, she interrupted her remarks to say, “Hello, everyone,” before continuing.
Several dozen students had stood when the announcer asked them to stand if they had lost someone to drugs.
The first lady said she wants to raise awareness about the opioid epidemic and to help educate young people about living drug free.
“I am in this fight with you and I am fighting for you,” she said.
She urged anyone currently grappling with addiction to ask someone for help.
First lady Melania Trump speaks at the B'More Youth Summit about opioid abuse, Nov. 26, 2019, in Baltimore. (Photo: Barbara Haddock Taylor/The Baltimore Sun via AP)
“I know each one of you has hopes and dreams for the future, whether it is college, joining the military, or playing a sport, your future will be determined by the choices you make,” Trump said.”Using drugs will only slow you down and prevent you from achieving those goals.”
After the Baltimore event, she returned to the White House to participate in the annual turkey pardoning ceremony with President Trump. The Trumps were headed to Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday later Tuesday.
This is the second incident in recent weeks involving a negative greeting of the first lady: Earlier this month in Boston, where she visited a hospital that uses cuddling to help infants born dependent on drugs or alcohol, protesters carrying mocking signs demonstrated outside against Trump administration policies, although she didn’t personally see them.
President Trump has had a difficult relationship with Baltimore, Maryland’s largest urban area. He recently labeled the city a “disgusting rat and rodent-infested mess,” saying no human would want to live there.
The president also criticized the late Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Democrat who represented parts of the city in Congress for decades. At the time of his death in October, Cummings was a central player in multiple House investigations of Trump and his administration.
Trump refused to cooperate with the congressional inquiries. He was met with protests in September, including by a giant inflatable rat, when he went to Baltimore to meet with House Republicans.
The youth summit is sponsored by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and actor Mark Wahlberg’s youth foundation to help educate students, teachers and parents about opioid use and misuse.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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