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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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

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