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Melania Trump has broken her silence over the rumor that Barron Trump is autistic, to reveal how her son was bullied after it spread online in 2016.
The former first lady shares her side of the story in her memoir Melania, which is due to hit shelves on Tuesday.
In 2016, TV personality Rosie O’Donnell – who has a long-standing feud with Donald Trump – reshared a video of Barron which speculated that he was displaying signs of autism.
Barron – who Melania largely tried to shield from the public eye as much as possible – was aged 10 at the time.
The video and O’Donnell’s post went viral.
“Barron Trump Autistic?” O’Donnell commented on the video in a post on Twitter in 2016. “If so — what an amazing opportunity to bring attention to the AUTISM epidemic.”
In her memoir, according to an advanced copy obtained byThe Daily Beast, Melania details how the ordeal left her son with “irreparable damage,” and hints he was bullied in real life as a result.
“Barron’s experience of being bullied both online and in real life following the incident is a clear indication of the irreparable damage caused,” Melania writes.
“There is nothing shameful about autism (though O’Donnell’s tweet implied that there was), but Barron is not autistic,” Melania says, accusing O’Donnell of “sheer malice.”
“I was appalled by such cruelty,” Melania says.
“It was clear to me that she was not interested in raising awareness about autism. I felt that she was attacking my son because she didn’t like my husband.”
She goes on to describe what happened in the viral video, which was taken down by the original poster after Melania took legal action.
“Someone had painstakingly compiled the footage and added captions like, ‘His hands are moving erratically and aren’t touching each other. Then he was spotted making strange movements in his seat, typical of children with autism,’” she writes.
Melania adds that it was “devastating as a parent” and she felt like her heart “was breaking into pieces.”
O’Donnell apologized and deleted the tweet following backlash. She said on her website that the tweet “had nothing to do with Donald.”
Her feud with the Republican presidential nominee goes way back.
It began in 2006 when they exchanged blows regarding Trump’s decision to reinstate a Miss USA pageant winner who was caught up in a drug scandal.
Trump has also repeatedly called O’Donnell “disgusting.”
During a presidential debate against Hillary Clinton, Trump was asked about the language he used to describe women such as “fat pigs” and “disgusting animals.”
“Only Rosie O’Donnell,” he replied.
Melania has been plugging her memoir over the last couple of weeks.
Perhaps the biggest revelation to come from the book is that Melania is pro-choice – something that pits her against her husband.
“Why should anyone other than the woman herself have the power to determine what she does with her own body? A woman’s fundamental right of individual liberty, to her own life, grants her the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes,” she writes.
