Amber Athey | White House Correspondent
First lady Melania Trump delivered remarks at a town hall on the opioid crisis Tuesday and challenged the media to give more coverage to the epidemic than “idle gossip or trivial stories.”
Trump kicked off her “Be Best” tour this week to address childhood bullying and the opioid crisis and arrived in Las Vegas to participate in the town hall with Eric Bolling, who lost his son to an opioid overdose. (RELATED: Melania Announces Three-State Tour For ‘Be Best’ Campaign: Here’s Where She’s Headed)
Trump said:
I’d also like to take a moment to challenge the media to cover this very real issue as often as possible. In 2017, we lost at least 72,000 Americans to overdoses — that’s 197 lost American lives per day — more than eight lost-lives-per-hour. I challenge the press to devote as much time to the lives lost — and the potential lives that could be saved — by dedicating the same amount of coverage that you do to idle gossip or trivial stories.
The first lady received a standing ovation at the end of her speech, according to the White House press pool.
First lady Melania Trump holds a town hall in Las Vegas on opioids: "My husband and his entire administration are committed to fighting the nation's opioid epidemic … it is the worst drug crisis in American history" https://t.co/xQSfDfugp5 pic.twitter.com/iaIlKrTGWm
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 5, 2019
Trump addressed the media again during a question and answer session with Bolling, asserting, “I wish the media would talk about more and educate more, especially the children.”
“They do it but I think not enough,” she added.
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