A Russian state television network congratulated Melania Trump on her husband's reelection as president of the United States by showing nude photographs of her on live television, according to a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
On the show 60 minutes, Russian television presenters, husband and wife Yevgeny Popov and Olga Skabeyeva, spoke about Donald Trump's reelection and showed numerous photos from Melania Trump's modeling days on screen, including nude photographs from a GQ profile in 2000.
Julia Davis, founder of the Russia Media Monitor watchdog group, posted video of the broadcast alongside the caption: "Meanwhile in Russia: this is how the most watched state TV channel in the country welcomed Melania Trump's upcoming return to the White House. Olga Skabeeva is trying not to laugh. This was probably her idea."
WATCH. Russian state channel shows nude photos of Melania Trump: presenter visibly struggles not to burst out laughing.https://t.co/p2yKQJjSea
— 💙Charlie's Angel (@realskoebiedoe) November 8, 2024Newsweek reached out to Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, for comment via email outside of business hours.
Newsweek also submitted an online contact form for Melania Trump's publisher, Skyhorse Publishing, to seek comment outside of business hours.
During the broadcast Skabeyeva, could not hold back a smile, while Popov said: "Now that Melania Trump's husband has finally won, she is getting ready to come back to the White House for a second time. Here is how Melania looked in the year 2000. This is the cover of the magazine GQ.
"The future first lady lies on top of furs in a negligee. Inside the magazine, Melania's sexy photos near a private plane and aboard the plane. In one of the shots, the model is wearing only her underwear, lying on a blue carpet with the U.S. seal, as though the editors of the men's magazine knew something in advance about the future of their model."
The segment ended with music and a series of photos of Trump, along with the voice-over "What does 'my body my choice' really mean?," harkening back to a promotional video the first lady posted on X ahead of the release of her autobiography Melania.
Melania Trump began modeling as a teenager after she was discovered by a Slovenian photographer at 16 and signed with an Italian agency a few years later.
She modeled in Paris, Milan and New York in the 1990s and early 2000s before meeting her husband and getting married in 2005.
Trump, then Melania Knauss, posed for a nude cover of GQ Magazine in 2000, which resurfaced during her husband's first presidency in 2016. The magazine published an article in that year about the photo shoot 16 years earlier.
Speaking of the cover, GQ editor Dylan Jones said: "We were bombarded by requests to shoot Melania. Given that she was obviously so keen to be featured in GQ, we came up with a rather kitsch and camp story for her to feature in."
He added that Donald requested the photos be sent to his office.
"We framed the cover and a selection of prints and sent them as soon as we could," Jones said.
Melania Trump has previously defended her modeling career, including her nude photographs, and did so as recently as September when she posted a video on X about her work.
"Why do I stand proudly behind my nude modeling work?" she asked. "The more pressing question is, why has the media chosen to scrutinize my celebration of the human form in a fashion photo shoot? Are we no longer able to appreciate the beauty of the human body?"
She speaks of artists throughout history depicting the beauty of the human shape before adding: "We should honor our bodies and embrace the timeless tradition of using art as a powerful means of self-expression."
The video, ends with a link to purchase her book which was published on October 8. It includes "stories and images never before shared with the public."
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