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WASHINGTON Melania Trump has freedom over her own remote control, began a New York Times story earlier this week , which could have been mistaken for satire from The Onion, but was in fact real life.

The story referred to a statement the first ladys communications director Stephanie Grisham gave to CNN , proclaiming that Trump can watch any channel she wants. That was in response to an earlier Times report that President Donald Trump became enraged that his wife watched CNN, which he frequently calls fake news.

Grishams statement also sidestepped questions about that days major story , the presidents longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen releasing an audio tape of him and the then-presidential candidate discussing a payment to kill a story of an alleged extramarital affair.

She instructed reporters to instead focus on the first ladys Be Best childrens initiatives, to which her husband has devoted little attention since becoming president.

The response on Wednesday was one of several recent examples in which the first lady appeared to take a page from the presidents media criticism playbook. Using similar rhetoric to that of her husband , she tweeted in May that the media is working overtime speculating where I am, referring to reports on how she had not appeared in public for nearly a month unusual for a public figure such as the first lady.

I see the media is working overtime speculating where I am & what I'm doing. Rest assured, I'm here at the @WhiteHouse w my family, feeling great, & working hard on behalf of children & the American people!

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I see the media is working overtime speculating where I am & what I'm doing. Rest assured, I'm here at the @WhiteHouse w my family, feeling great, & working hard on behalf of children & the American people!
Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) May 30, 2018

After a Rose Garden launch event for Be Best this spring , Grisham released a lengthy statement accusing the opposition media of baseless accusations towards the First Lady and her new initiatives, and instructing reporters to Be Best in their own professions.

The baseless news coverage? The pamphlet for the program contained language that was identical to text from an Obama administration booklet on cyberbullying and online security.

Asked about the comparisons to the president, Grisham said that the East Wing has its own press strategy, and disputed that she only responds through criticism of the media.

I put positive tweets/readouts/videos out constantly, she wrote in an email. In my opinion, the media chooses to cover the more salacious gossip or silly speculation in order to get headlines or clicks. To be honest, I wish they would cover more of her work on behalf of children, rather than some of the things they choose to focus on.

These critical responses to press coverage have occurred in tandem with Melania Trump s gradual and at times rocky ascension to her position as first lady, often fraught with challenges and seen as arcane and sexist. According to scholars who have studied the communications strategies of first ladies, its yet another way in which Trump has taken a radically different approach to the role .

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