President Donald Trump's trip to China was billed as a high-stakes diplomatic summit with President Xi Jinping, but with one notable exception: the first lady was nowhere to be found.
Melania Trump, who had attended the 2017 Xi summit and appeared alongside both leaders and their spouses, sat this one out entirely because, according to her office, she was attending the six-month anniversary of an unnamed initiative connected to children and foster care programs. The announcement flabbergasted legal and political commentator Michael Popok, host of the podcast "The Intersection with Michael Popok," who said on a new episode on Thursday that he had no clue what Melania Trump was referring to.
"Where is Melania?" Popok asked. "She had to stay back because they're celebrating the six-month anniversary. Is that even a thing? I defy anybody ... to tell me what she stands for and what she's done to help America, America's families, or children. Name one thing of substance that's concrete."
"And at the moment when Trump needed backup and support, he ended up going with Brett Ratner as his plus one to the state dinners, along with his kids, because Melania refuses to be the first lady," he added.
Popok was even more incredulous that Melania's office appeared caught off guard by details of the trip itself. Her spokespersons said she had no idea Ratner, her own documentarian, had traveled to China with her husband as part of the presidential delegation.
At a moment when a first lady's presence traditionally serves as a stabilizing piece of soft diplomacy, Melania's absence only amplified the sense of disorder surrounding the visit, Popok argued.
"One husband doesn't know what the other wife is doing," he said.