Free Melania? She made her jailbreak tonight. Whether or not President Trump wins re-election, she was out to save, as far as possible, her own reputation. The voice was soothing, the sentiments compassionate and the delivery emollient. She found her voice.

Her good fortune was to be preceded by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who blabbered from the roof of Jerusalem’s King David Hotel about Trump’s great foreign policy victories. The media complained about Pompeo breaking norms, but the only thing he really helped break were his own presidential ambitions by coming across as a dullard. His eminently forgettable speech set it up perfectly for Melania.

The mainstream media could barely constrain its enthusiasm for her. With knuckleheads like Pam Bondi speaking at their convention and Mary Ann Mendoza booted from it, Melania had an open field to make her move. Wolf Blitzer, among others, was gushing about her willingness to address the pandemic. But as he was constrained to note, her audience wasn’t wearing face masks.

The true moment of high comedy came when Melania lauded her husband’s ‘total honesty’, a statement that was itself less than veridical. You’d have to be tripping to believe that malarkey.

Perhaps the most important move Melania made, however, was to hold Donald’s hand as they walked back to their residence. She’s willing, at least for the moment, to clutch it in public rather than brush it away. In coming weeks, he may find himself relying on her more than ever.