October 19, 2016

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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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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