Melania Trump Offers Surprise Endorsement While Defending Her Husband’s Alleged Sexual Assaults

Laura Benanti returns to the “Late Show” with another brilliant parody.


Actress Laura Benanti, who first played Melania Trump after it was revealed that she had plagiarized Michelle Obama’s speech from the 2008 Democratic National Convention, returned to the Late Show on Tuesday with another hilarious impression to defend Donald Trump amid mounting claims of sexual assault.

“I did not know this, but when American men gather to sport they always brag of grabbing women by the Billy Bush,” Benanti told Stephen Colbert.

The parody comes a day after the real Melania gave two rare interviews dismissing a bombshell recording that caught her husband bragging about groping women without their consent as “locker room talk.” The potential first lady also blamed Access Hollywood host Billy Bush for “egging” the real estate magnate on with his lewd comments.

By the end of the brilliant spoof, Benanti unwittingly stumbled into making a surprise endorsement. Watch above.

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do things differently in the aftermath of a political crisis: Watergate. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after, and go deep on, stories others don’t. And we’re a nonprofit newsroom because we knew corporations and billionaires would never fund the journalism we do. Our reporting makes a difference in policies and people’s lives changed.

And we need your support like never before to vigorously fight back against the existential threats American democracy and journalism face. We’re running behind our online fundraising targets and urgently need all hands on deck right now. We can’t afford to come up short—we have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

Please help with a donation today if you can—even just a few bucks helps. Not ready to donate but interested in our work? Sign up for our Daily newsletter to stay well-informed—and see what makes our people-powered, not profit-driven, journalism special.

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