CULTURE

Christine Baranski Steps In As Fake Melania Trump on the Late Show

Stephen Colbert gets to the bottom of #FakeMelania


SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations: "The Good Fight" With Christine Baranski
Jamie McCarthy

Stephen Colbert is determined to get to the bottom of #FakeMelania once and for all. On Friday, The Late Show host welcomed not one, but two different Melania Trump impersonators to find out what’s really going on with all those First Lady body double conspiracy theories.

First, Colbert was joined by Laura Benanti, who’s all but perfected her Melania impersonation. “It makes no sense. How can there be two Melania Trumps? Think about it! Doesn’t it seem crazy that there is even one?” Benanti joked. She was of course referring to the memes that arose after Donald Trump was spotted with what many people thought might be a Melania lookalike.

“Why would anyone impersonate Melania Trump? For what? Attention? Applause?” Benanti’s Trump asked. “Besides it takes some Tony award-winning actor to pull off this role.” Benanti won a Tony in 2008.

“If I was going to use a double, it would be in private when a Donald knocks on my bedroom door,” Benanti’s Trump added. “When he knocks on my door and he asks for a presidential briefing. It’s over in two minutes and he spends the whole time confused.”

At that point, Benanti was replaced by another Tony award-winning actress—none other than Christine Baranski. “Yes it’s me, the first and only First Lady,” she said. “You can’t get rid of me no matter how hard I try,” Baranski’s Trump said before Colbert pointed out how different she looked than the earlier version. “Just like the media to focus on my appearance instead of the important work I do,” she quipped. When it came time to talk about her husband, Baranski’s Trump got a bit emotional. “I am married to Donald Trump and we are in…. oh I can’t do this,” she said before storming off.

Trump meanwhile, has been wildly critical of what he calls “one-sided” late night television, and we’re guessing Colbert’s latest spoof will do little in swaying his opinion. Watch below.

Related: Michelle Obama Had Two Words for Donald Trump’s 2017 Inauguration: “Bye, Felicia”