Actress Shailene Woodley defended her decision to repost a statement from former First Lady Melania Trump following the assassination attempt on former President Trump. Woodley said she found the statement to be "a beautiful message of human compassion."
Actress Shailene Woodley has defended her decision to repost a statement from former First Lady Melania Trump following the assassination attempt on former President Trump.
On Thursday, Woodley posted the statement on her Instagram Stories, which highlighted Trump's humanity. The statement was met with backlash from some people on social media, who accused Woodley of supporting the former president.
Shailene Woodley Defends Reposting Melania Trump's Statement Post Assassination Attempt on Former President Trump
In an interview with Bustle published on Friday, Woodley said she was disturbed by the clamoring for violence she witnessed by "many" in her liberal circles after a shooter attempted to kill the former president at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July.
"Literally, I read it and I was like, ‘This is so beautiful.' I was in circles of people that I deeply respect — friends, colleagues, progressive, very intelligent thinkers, shakers and movers — and many of them were saying, ‘He missed! F—ing assassin missed! Maybe it was a setup. Maybe it was a conspiracy.’ I was going, ‘Have we forgotten that two human lives were taken?’ Two people died. That is sad. That is devastating. I could not understand how people were speaking about something with such passion for death," the liberal actress explained.
Shailene Woodley Defends Reposting Melania Trump's Statement Post Assassination Attempt on Former President Trump
Woodley said she only shared the first page of the statement to her Instagram stories, which highlighted Trump's humanity, before it became "more political."
The actress was shocked to find out from a friend that her repost had prompted a wave of media attention and backlash on social media.
Shailene Woodley Defends Reposting Melania Trump's Statement Post Assassination Attempt on Former President Trump
"I was like, "Oh my God, that is now this? Hundreds of articles because I posted about a woman saying she’s grateful her husband is alive? Really?" she said.
"It made me shake my head. If [who I am] is not coming through in the way that I’m intending, I’m not going to participate on social media. I participate in my own ways now that maybe are less public because I want to add to the right noise. I don’t want to add to unnecessary noise," she continued.
Woodley, who has partnered with environmental organizations, said her political beliefs are "pretty well-known."
She called the rush to judge and "cancel" people on social media "a dangerous thing.""
I’m like, d—, I do one thing that someone doesn’t understand — not even [disagrees with], doesn’t understand — and there isn’t a question of, ‘I wonder what she means by that.’ It’s an immediate, ‘Oh, she’s this type of a person,’ which is just a dangerous thing that’s happening in general these days. Instead of being inquisitive to try and dissect and discover, we pigeonhole and cancel. Man, it’s so destructive," she said.
Woodley's decision to repost Melania Trump's statement has sparked a debate on social media, with some people praising her for her compassion and others criticizing her for supporting the former president.
