Melania Trump: ‘He’s Not Hitler’

Melania Trump’s personal life has recently come into the spotlight after her GQ cover story (Melania has since said the interview is an example of “dishonest media”). In a new interview with DuJour magazine, Melania took the opportunity to respond to some of the aftermath.

The potential next First Lady told DuJour writer Mickey Rapkin that one of the most common misconceptions about her is that she’s introverted and traditional. “I’m not shy. I know what I want, and I’m selective,” she said. “I want to make clear: in 1999, when they asked what kind of first lady I would be, it was out there that I’d be traditional, a Jackie Kennedy or Betty Ford. But that was 1999. A lot has changed.”

The boldness she says the media had previously ignored also helps in her marriage, Melania Trump says. “To be married to my husband, to someone successful as he is, he needs somebody who will tell him the truth. Somebody smart, you know. It’s not just like I’m there and I’m just doing things for him. People say I’m not on the campaign, [but] I’m very involved from home…I give a lot of advice to my husband and tell him how it is and how I see it. I’m not backing off. I tell him the truth.”

Rapkin brought up examples of sexism that have targeted Trump—specifically news anchor Chris Matthews commenting on her “runway walk” or older clips of her husband talking about her breasts on television. “Men will be men,” she said to both instances.

Melania also shrugged off various comparisons of her husband to Hitler. When Rapkin quoted Louis CK—who famously said, “It was funny for a little while. But the guy is Hitler”— Trump said she wasn’t familiar with the comedian but that, “We know the truth. He’s not Hitler. He wants to help America. He wants to unite people. They think he doesn’t but he does. Even with the Muslims, it’s temporary.”

Read more: Lena Dunham to Donald Trump: What About Ivanka?

Mrs. Trump clarified aspects of her family life that have been challenged on the campaign trail. She expanded upon the popular anecdote of her famous refusal to give Donald her phone number when the first met, adding that she later called him and they went to a karaoke bar. In terms of her role in the campaign, when Donald Trump was deciding whether or not to run, she says, “I said to him, ‘You really need to think, because our family life will change.’ The three of us will change.”

If he were to win the presidency, she says, “I would also be a mom first, I would be with our son, I would be home,” Melania added. “Our son needs parents, and I don’t want somebody other than me taking care of him. We made that decision. It’s a big decision, and a selfless decision. To go into that is very selfless because of what we’re going through.”