Melania Trump addresses federal conference on cyberbullying

ROCKVILLE, Md. — Melania Trump talked up the importance of teaching children positive cyber habits Monday on the same morning that her husband sent tweets deriding current and former U.S. officials, including one message referring to a former CIA director as a “political hack.”

Asked about the contradictory messages, the first lady’s office said in a statement that she “is aware of the criticism but it will not deter her from doing what she feels is right. The President is proud of her commitment to children and encourages her in all that she does.”

Mrs. Trump delivered brief remarks to help open a government-sponsored summit called Federal Partners on Bullying Prevention, encouraging social media and technology companies to provide more opportunities for young people to share ideas for how to be good citizens online.

But the split screen of the first lady encouraging children to act a certain way when they see President Donald Trump behaving in the opposite way underscored the challenge Mrs. Trump faces with her “Be Best” campaign. A key focus is on youth cyberbullying.

Mrs. Trump spoke highly of a group of students she recently met who participate in Microsoft’s Council for Digital Good. The students provide the computer software maker with ideas and feedback for Microsoft’s policy work on youth-centered online safety.

She told the summit at the Health Resources and Services Administration building in Rockville how impressed she was by their “deep understanding of how important it is to be safe” and said she was “inspired by their sincere commitment to reducing peer-to-peer bullying through kindness and open communication.”