What Melania and Michelle have in common

From left, US First Lady Michelle Obama, Melania Trump, President-elect Donald Trump and US President Barack Obama at the White House in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2017. AFP PHOTO | JIM WATSON

What you need to know:

  • Melania may not have the same education levels, the speech creation or delivery (which is very unfair considering that she was born and grew into adulthood in Slovenia; would Michelle have been able to speak Slovene if the roles were reversed?), or may be as intelligent as Michelle Obama.
  • Michelle helped her husband kick the habit of smoking and decided to support him in his quest to go on to become the first, and so far only, non-white president of the US, having started with him from the bottom of the bottom when he was still an intern.
  • Melania has had to defend her husband against allegations that he had sexually assaulted women and that he had made bigoted remarks.

When Donald Trump was elected president, his wife Melania was thrown into the position of First Lady, which she will officially take on today.

Already many had written her off as incapable of having the same presence and influence that Michelle Obama has had as First Lady.

It didn’t help things that when she first splashed onto the world stage, at the 2016 Republican National Convention, her speech was found to have plagiarised parts of Michelle’s keynote address at Democratic National Convention in 2008.

Melania did say she has always liked Michelle, and now gets a chance to walk in the same shoes as First Lady.

Melania may not have the same education levels, the speech creation or delivery (which is very unfair considering that she was born and grew into adulthood in Slovenia; would Michelle have been able to speak Slovene if the roles were reversed?), or may be as intelligent as Michelle Obama.

It is hard to say, however, whether she will bomb or succeed in her duties, but she and Michelle have a few things in common that people have chosen to overlook, which she can draw on to leave a positive imprint.

1. Age

When Michelle became First Lady she had just turned 45, while Melania is just about two months away from her 47th birthday. This means that they would be appealing to very much the same demographics, so Melania should basically not have a problem attracting this crowd.

2. Fashion sense and physical appeal

Both ladies are fashion-forward and Melania’s smaller frame could even work better to pull off some of the looks that Michelle had struggled to pull off.

The reverse could be true and she would look odd in some styles that the former First Lady shined in. They are both physically attractive, and Melania at least has this part covered.

3. Pre-teen kids

Michelle had two pre-teenage daughters when Barack Obama was sworn in the first time. Melania has 10-year-old Barron. Michelle used her experience with the girls in the White House to start the Let’s Move campaign for healthier kids. Melania simply has to keep a sharp eye on Barron and she too could come up with something that will move the US.

4. Drive and ambition

Michelle was a hard-working student and studied hard to finally get to Princeton and then Harvard Law School. Melania is just as driven, even though her path was based more on her beauty than her brains. She has been a model from the age of five until after the time she migrated to the US, gracing all the major publications a model would envy to be in and the 2000 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

5. Devotion to their husbands

One thing that is undeniable about the two women is the choice to stand by their husbands even when times are tough. But that’s exactly where their similarity in this respect ends.

Michelle helped her husband kick the habit of smoking and decided to support him in his quest to go on to become the first, and so far only, non-white president of the US, having started with him from the bottom of the bottom when he was still an intern.

Melania has had to defend her husband against allegations that he had sexually assaulted women and that he had made bigoted remarks.

While it is true that Melania has a humongous mountain to climb, her husband has proved that you can never say never.