Shailene Woodley defends sharing Melania Trump’s statement after Donald Trump assassination attempt

Shailene Woodley defended her decision to share Melania Trump’s statement following the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

In an interview with Rushthe Three womenn star was asked if she felt “misunderstood” after receiving criticism for sharing Melania’s open letter on her Instagram Story. Woodley explained that she thought, “This is so beautiful” when she read the former first lady’s words.

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“I was in circles of people that I deeply respect – friends, colleagues, progressive, very intelligent thinkers, shakers and movers – and many of them said, ‘He missed! The fucking killer missed! Maybe it was a set-up. Maybe it was a conspiracy,’” the actress recalled. “I thought, ‘Have we forgotten that two lives were taken?’ Two people died. That’s sad. That’s devastating. I couldn’t understand how people could talk about something with such passion for death.”

Woodley then pointed out that she had only posted “the first page” of Melania’s letter because the second page was “more political.”

“The first page was very much like, ‘Look, underneath the political mask is a man, a grandfather, who comes home to his children, his grandchildren, and makes music. The man underneath that mask is my husband,’” she said.

As for why she shared the letter in the first place, Woodley noted that she “thought it was a beautiful message of human compassion.” She admitted that she forgot to post the letter because she “has a life” and doesn’t “live for what social media says.” However, she discovered that it wasn’t a well-received gesture when she received a text from a friend asking if she was okay.

“I Googled my name because I was like, ‘Oh fuck, what did I say?’” Big little lies alum recalled. “And of course there were all these news articles about Melania Trump, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, That is now this? Hundreds of articles because I posted about a woman who says she is grateful that her husband is still alive? Really?’”

While Woodley, who was previously an outspoken supporter of Bernie Sanders, did not say where her political leanings now lie, she said her beliefs are “pretty well known because of the things (she) has done publicly in the so-called activist world.”

She added: “But until the noise feeds what I want to feed – a world that feels safe and soft and truly inclusive – that’s (something to work out) with my people behind closed doors.”

On July 14, a day after the attempted assassination of the former president, Melania shared a statement on social media, expressing her fear that her husband would die. “A monster my husband recognized as an inhuman political machine attempted to take Donald’s passion – his laughter, his ingenuity, his love of music and his inspiration,” she wrote. “The core aspects of my husband’s life – his humanity – were buried beneath the political machine. Donald, the generous and caring man with whom I have been through the best of times and the worst.”

Melania urged us to “remember that different opinions, policies and political games are inferior to love. Our personal, structural and lifelong commitment — until death — is at serious risk. Political concepts are simple compared to us humans.”

On the second page, which Woodley said was more about politics, Melania thanked those who had expressed their support and implied that voting for Trump would help create “a world where respect comes first, family comes first and love transcends all.”

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