Brow Beat

Laura Benanti Revived Her Withering Melania Impression to Discuss Trump’s “Boy Talk” with Colbert

Melania Trump has, for the most part, been keeping out of the spotlight since her much-mocked, seemingly plagiarized speech at the Republican National Convention in July. Now, following the leaked Access Hollywood video that revealed her husband making lewd remarks about groping women, Melania is speaking to the press once again, which is great news for Laura Benanti, who had the opportunity to dust off her spot-on, impeccably contoured Melania impression once more on The Late Show.

In an interview with Anderson Cooper on Monday, Melania suggested it was unfair that her husband’s sexual assault boasts had been picked up on a hot mic and blamed Billy Bush for egging him on. “Now I know why they were on a bus,” quipped Colbert. “It’s easier to throw Billy underneath it.”

Benanti and Colbert wasted no time in lampooning Melania’s reasoning, with Colbert asking a pouting Benanti how she could possibly forgive her husband. “Boys, men—it’s the same. No matter how nice they seem, secretly they’re all foul-mouthed, Billy Bush–grabbing pigs,” Benanti lamented, before arriving at the inevitable conclusion: “If only a woman could be president!” But the funniest part might be the running joke that … someone else was in the room telling Melania what to say. When Colbert asked whether she had forgiven her husband, her panicked, paranoid eyes said everything we needed to know.