Melania Trump could only handle so much PDA at the debate, immediately yanking her hand away from her husband, Donald, as they exited the debate stage away from the cameras.
President Donald Trump didn’t have the best night on October 22. After getting bodied by Joe Biden during the final presidential debate, his own wife swerved him on national TV. As they posed for cameras following the event, the First Couple were holding hands — only for First Lady Melania Trump to quickly jerk hers away as they exited the debate stage. The president responded by giving her an awkward pat on the back as she walked offstage in front of him.
Melania yanks her hand away from Trump.
(Spotted by @WalnutDust)
— The Recount (@therecount) October 23, 2020
Earlier in the day, though, Melania happily (so it seemed) held hands with her husband at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where they were boarding Air Force One to head to Nashville. It was a stark contrast to the behavior between former Vice President Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden. The couple, who have been married for 43 years, greeted each other with a tight hug when she walked onstage. They left the debate hand in hand after posing for photos.
The October 22 presidential debate was the first public event the First Lady attended since being diagnosed with COVID-19 at the beginning of the month. While President Trump has insisted upon continuing his campaign as normal after testing negative, Melania has rested at the White House with their son, Barron Trump, who had also contracted the virus. They have both now tested negative.
The First Lady’s refusal to show PDA is just one instance in a long history of hand-yanking. It has happened so many times that a compilation video of all the times she’s swatted away her husband’s hand went viral in August. Most recently, the First Lady was spotted repeatedly pulling her hand away from Donald as they exited Air Force One in Morristown, New Jersey. She needed it to clutch that Birkin bag!
