CNN
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Former First Lady Melania Trump has begun to return to the political spotlight in the final months of the 2024 presidential campaign with a series of politically pointed social media videos.

The former first lady took a rare, deliberate step out of the national political discourse this week, including posting a video on X on Tuesday in which she questioned some of the circumstances surrounding her husband’s assassination attempt over the summer.

“I wonder why the police didn’t arrest the shooter before the speech,” the former first lady said in the 34-second clip in which she speaks directly to the camera. “There is definitely more to this story and we need to find out the truth.”

It is not clear what issues are particularly important to the former first lady. Her office did not respond to a request for comment.

The clip was the latest in a small series of posts the former first lady published to promote her memoir, “Melania,” which is set to be released on October 8.

On Sunday, her X-Account posted a short video featuring the former first lady making a rare statement on the 2020 election results.

“The 2020 election results are changing our lives forever. They have impacted our quality of life, the cost of food, gas, safety, and even the geopolitical landscape. America is more divided today than ever before. It is becoming increasingly evident that free speech faces significant challenges, as evidenced by the efforts to silence my husband,” she said in a new video posted on X that included a link to pre-order her memoir.

The memoir itself is an exception to a pattern Melania Trump has largely stuck to for the 2024 presidential campaign, as former President Donald Trump runs again. The former first lady has opted against the traditional campaigning that the wife of a major party candidate engages in. She made a brief appearance at Trump’s late 2022 campaign kickoff at Mar-a-Lago, she participated in the Florida presidential primary alongside the former president, and headlined a fundraiser for the Log Cabin Republicans in New York in early July. In April, she attended a fundraiser with her husband hosted by investor John Paulson.

Melania Trump did not give a speech at the Republican National Convention, but appeared on stage on the last night of the convention.

A day after the assassination attempt on the former president in Butler, Pennsylvania, she released a short, two-page statement calling for unity.

“This morning, we rise above the hatred, the vitriol and the simple-minded ideas that ignite violence,” Melania Trump wrote in her July 14 statement. “We all want a world where respect comes first, family comes first and love comes first. We can make that world happen again. Each of us must demand to get it back. We must insist that respect be the cornerstone of our relationships again.”

It is not uncommon for former presidents and their spouses to largely disappear from the public eye after their presidency, but spouses of presidential candidates typically use this visibility to boost their partner’s chances.

The former first lady’s public appearances and statements suggest that she only runs for election when she considers something particularly important, said Republican strategist Tricia McLaughlin.

“It seems that she is raising her voice and choosing to be more publicly visible when there is something that is really important to her – the events at the Republican Log Cabin, her husband’s acceptance speech at the convention and his first (statement) after he was nearly killed, and now the issue of transparency surrounding the attempted assassination investigation,” McLaughlin said.

Melania Trump’s recent public appearances have served to highlight her forthcoming memoir. Aides and allies of the former first lady stress that she is selective in her public appearances and is focused on raising her son, Barron. Those aides and allies have also said that she remains fully supportive of her husband’s candidacy. Despite this, Melania Trump has repeatedly described herself as a private person.

Still, the recent posts were more direct than most of the former First Lady’s targeted public overtures.

On her website, the book is described as “the powerful and inspirational story of a woman who defined personal excellence, overcame adversity and forged her own path” and that it “contains stories and images never before shared with the public.”