Opinion: We don’t need to rake Melania over the coals to make a case against Donald Trump’s candidacy

I admittedly don’t know much about Melania Trump. During her years in the spotlight as mogul-turned-presidential-candidate Donald Trump’s wife, she’s managed to keep a relatively low profile.

Before Trump ran for office, I could have told you two things about her: She’s a former model. She’s married to Donald Trump.

Now that Trump’s running for office, I can tell you the same two things. And I don’t need to know more than that.

I don’t need to know if she has a college degree.

I don’t need to know the circumstances of her immigration to this country.

I do need to know if her speechwriter plagiarized from Michele Obama’s speech, but only so that the original writer receives attribution.

I don’t need to know if she took nude photos.

This information tells me nothing germane to the presidential race.

It’s classically sexist to pull out someone’s nude pictures from 20 years ago and pretend they mean something when you’re really just out to get clicks. It’s classically sexist to view a woman’s actions as a reflection of her husband’s character. We don’t need to rake Melania over the coals to make a case against Trump’s candidacy.

So am I arguing that in order to take a stand against sexism we’re to blindly support all women, regardless of their politics? Absolutely not.

Take Sarah Palin, for instance. Sarah Palin was different from Melania in several significant ways. She was running for elected office. She took public positions that would have severely restricted women’s choices; she supported a federal constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage; she opposed abortion, including in the case of rape and incest. Unlike Melania, Palin has called herself a feminist. She has the right to say that, just as I have the right to say that, in my estimation, she misunderstands the concept. These are the rights our Constitution protects.

Melania is not on the campaign trail railing against women’s rights. “I chose not to go into politics and policy,” she told GQ in April 2016. “Those policies are my husband’s job. Nobody knows and nobody will ever know.”

You can say that all of the information that’s emerged about Melania in the past few weeks is germane to the presidential race to the extent that it points to Trump’s hypocrisies; for instance, that he shouldn’t be spouting vitriol against illegal immigrants if it’s found that his wife immigrated illegally. Sure, and if this was our first inkling of Trump’s hypocrisy, it would be more interesting.

But if you’re waiting on information about Melania to tell you whether or not you should vote for Donald Trump, I’ll say what I’ve said each time a prominent Republican jumped ship this week — the rest wasn’t enough for you?

It wasn’t enough for you when Donald Trump called Mexican immigrants “criminals” and “rapists,” over a year ago? When he had no idea Putin had already invaded Ukraine? When the seven policy positions listed on his website were as flat as campaign promises made by a student body president hopeful? (Free lunch on Fridays! Build the wall! Live band at prom!)

It wasn’t enough for you when Trump said he’d shut down the U.S. government if that’s what it took to defund Planned Parenthood? When he said “there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her whatever” about Fox anchor Megyn Kelly?

If Melania Trump’s immigration records from the 1990s are going to help you decide whether Donald Trump is qualified to lead the free world, I am judging you. Let’s take it a step further, because I’m done with propriety — history will too.

Because while you were Googling “Melania Trump college degree,” Donald Trump was saying:

“I always wanted to get the Purple Heart.” He dodged the draft five times; the Purple Heart is awarded to those wounded or killed while serving.

“We may have people vote 10 times [in November]. ... If you don’t have voter ID, you can just keep voting and voting and voting.” This is not true.

Hillary Clinton “should get an award from [the Islamic State] as the founder of ISIS.” All right, then.

He’d seen a video of a $400-million payment being unloaded from a U.S. plane in Iran. This morning, he admitted: “The plane I saw on television was the hostage plane in Geneva, Switzerland, not the plane carrying $400 million in cash going to Iran!” Oops.

It’s time to stop using Melania to make the case against a Trump presidency. His own words will do just fine.

Batchelor Warnke is an intern in The Times’ Opinion section. Follow her on Twitter @velvetmelvis.

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