Melania Trump, wife of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and plagiarist/fan of Michelle Obama, is not running for office. Which raises the question of why the New York Post decided it was necessary or appropriate to publish a cover of Melania Trump naked from, as the accompanying article explains, a photo shoot taken for a now out of print French magazine (Max) when she was 25 years old.
The Post includes quotes from the photographer, Alé de Basseville, explaining that the artist formerly known as Melania Knauss was always very comfortable being naked, and from her husband, who said of the photos, “Melania was one of the most successful models and she did many photo shoots, including for covers and major magazines. This was a picture taken for a European magazine prior to my knowing Melania. In Europe, pictures like this are very fashionable and common.”
None of which makes this cover acceptable. A woman should be able to agree to take naked photos for a European magazine in her twenties with the expectation that they will not show up on the cover of a newspaper/tabloid some 20 years later under the headline “Ogle Office” when her husband decides to run for president.
Certainly, Melania Trump is a fascinating figure, and a subject of journalistic intrigue. There have been excellent articles written about her that shed light on what sort of first lady she might be, and how she understands public service, and what will be important to her should she live in the White House, and that offer substantive criticism or critique in a way that is interesting to the reader and helpful to the American voter.
This Post piece is not one of them.
