In an awkward moment caught on camera at his first annual White House Easter Egg Roll, President Donald Trump appeared to need a nudge from First Lady Melania Trump to raise his hand over his heart during the National Anthem.
In the video, seen above, Melania and their son Barron quickly put their hands over their hearts when the “Star-Spangled Banner” begins. However, Trump himself doesn’t do it right away. It appears that Melania quickly nudges her husband’s right hand to remind him to put his hand over his heart.
The Easter Egg Roll is an annual tradition at the White House that began in 1878, during the Rutherford B. Hayes administration. According to the Washington Post, 21,000 people were expected for Trump’s first Easter egg roll.
According to the U.S. law on the National Anthem, when the song is being performed, those in the military should give a salute, while others should “face the flag and stand at attention with their right hand over the heart, and men not in uniform, if applicable, should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart.”
In 2007, then-candidate Barack Obama infamously did not put his hand over his heart during a campaign event. I was taught by my grandfather that you put your hand over your heart during the pledge, but during ‘The Star Spangled Banner,’ you sing,” Obama said during a town hall to explain his flub.