WASHINGTON, Oct 30 — Former US first lady Melania Trump pushed back on Tuesday against attacks on her husband Donald Trump, saying the Republican presidential candidate is "not Hitler”.

In an interview with Fox & Friends, Melania Trump also said her support for abortion rights was "not a big surprise” for the former US president, whose Supreme Court picks paved the way for the end of the national right to abortion.

She said comparisons of her husband to Hitler were "terrible”.

"He’s not Hitler, and all of his supporters, they’re standing behind him because they want to see (the) country successful, and we see what kind of support he has,” she said.

Trump’s former White House chief of staff, John Kelly, has quoted his former boss as saying that "Hitler did some good things too” and he "wanted generals like Adolf Hitler had”.

Trump has denied making the remarks and told supporters on Monday: "I’m not a Nazi. I’m the opposite of a Nazi.”

Melania Trump voiced strong support for abortion rights in her recently published memoir, and she said the former president always knew where she stood.

"My husband knew my position, my belief, since the day we met,” she said. "So it was not a big surprise for him. I guess other people in the world didn’t know where my stands are, but he was not surprised at all. He knew about it.”

Melania Trump also said the current White House campaign, which has been marked by two assassination attempts on her husband, was "much more dangerous”.

"I’m very vigilant and very selective where I go, what I do,” she said. "I always say to him, you know, good luck and be safe.”

Melania Trump has made infrequent appearances on the campaign trail but she showed up for a rally her husband held on Sunday at Madison Square Garden in New York. — AFP