Melania has an official capacity in the White House with deputies, staff, budget, official schedules. As the President’s spouse, she is a symbol of his life, of America, and an ornament to the administration.
Donald Trump signs legislation into law, so he is part of the lawmaking process.
But all the above does not matter nor does it matter what the First Lady did.
1. No law is proposed by the President or Congress that would favor the establishment of one religious belief over any other.
2. There is no separation of Church and State in the US Constitution as the Title of this thread implies.
3. The rally held in Florida was not official White House business, rather a weekend stop at the President’s Florida home where he met with his supporters.
4. Even if the President had said a Christian prayer or quoted biblical scripture himself in lieu of the First Lady, it would not be unconstitutional.
5. If the President wants to say a Christian or Jewish prayer in the white House at meetings or press conferences or any official ceremony, he is not restricted from freely exercising his right to his religious beliefs.
This thread and its title is a trivial, frivolous, unimportant reference to the First Lady reciting in prayer the Lord’s Prayer. It is much ado about nothing. The person writing the report should be ashamed they drew negative attention to it.
That said, if the First Lady had recited the Quran, people would have a right to be livid because such a preference for Islam was never disclosed in the campaign and election, and people have the right to free association and to vote against a person’s religious views. In this case, Americans knew they were voting for a Christian President and First Lady. So there was and is no deception.
Alexander Griffing of Haaretz appears to be an unimportant nobody who is more of a political hack than a news journalist.
The news of the First Lady’s introduction is quite brief “Melania Trump, the First Lady of the United States, arrived with her husband the President in Melbourne, Florida where she introduced the President to an enormous crowd of supporters by leading the crowd in prayer reciting the Lord’s Prayer. This news reporter was not able to find a time in US history where a first lady led a crowd of supporters in prayer. The crowd seemed to agree enthusiastically with the First Lady’s invocation with many interviewed afterward stating they found it refreshing to hear the First Lady’s choice of introduction as the Lord’s Prayer followed by her solemn promise and pledge to always do what is right by the American people.”
Unfortunately, the above is too soporific for today’s skunks in the field of journalism. Such skunks are trained to make something/anything stink to gain attention in the hopes of grabbing the spotlight with a prevoking headline.
You used an awful lot of space to say what I said in a couple of lines and I bet you think you are refuting me.