Laura Benanti As Melania Trump Explains ‘Misunderstood’ Wardrobe Controversy To Stephen Colbert On ‘Late Show’
Given recent quotes from the president, Donald Trump would probably feel no hesitation in introducing Stephen Colbert as the “no talent” host of NBC’s The Late Show. In a recent South Carolina rally, Trump referred to the late-night talkshow host as a “lowlife,” while saving the term “lost soul” for the host of The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel.
As the L.A. Times reported, last night’s episode of The Late Show featured a confrontation between Stephen Colbert and “Melania Trump.” Although the real Melania Trump was not available to appear on Colbert’s show, a version of the first lady was portrayed by Laura Benanti. In the mock-interview, Colbert confronted the caricature of Mrs. Trump on her highly criticized decision to sport a jacket with the words “I Really Don’t Care. Do U?” while headed to the Texas-Mexico border.
The incident dubbed as “coat-gate” by Stephen Colbert was explored and lampooned on The Late Show. In the segment, an exaggerated version of Melania Trump seemed completely taken aback with accusations of being callous, all the while revealing garments of increasingly offensive messages. The segment began with a reference to wearing red arm bands with “windmills,” alluding to a swastika, and a hat which read “F The Kids,” and culminated a notably direct new message scrawled across the back of fake Melania’s jacket, pronouncing the underlying theme of the bit.
“How Many More Monstrous Acts Do I Have To Support Before People Finally Start Seeing Me As Complicit In All This?”
Melania Trump is often speculated to be at odds with the president, even rumored to be unhappy with him as a husband and on the verge of separation. Thus far, such rumors remain unconfirmed.
Trump’s habits of actively and publicly sparring with celebrities mark a turning point in American history, where political satire no longer plays a potential, indirect role in the behavior of the president, but rather, an observable and direct one.
Stephen Colbert’s interview with a parodically coy “Melania Trump” on last night’s episode of The Late Show would have likely landed without presidential comment from Barack Obama or George W. Bush. In 2018 it wouldn’t be out of character for the president to negatively reference such a bit during his next address to the nation.
Aside from bashing Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jimmy Fallon at his rally in South Carolina, Trump also took Arnold Schwarzenegger to task, not so much for Schwarzenegger’s political stances, but for “ruining” the president’s previous reality television show, The Apprentice.
