Melania Trump’s nude modeling makes Republicans blush — and threaten reporters

Melania Trump at the 2017 Invictus Games in Toronto, Canada on September 23, 2017, Wikimedia Commons
Matt Laslo
and
Raw Story
September 23, 2024

WASHINGTON —While most Republicans are now fanboys of former President Donald Trump, talk of the former first lady’s nude modeling makes many in the GOP contort, even if she started the conversation on social media this week ahead of the release of her new memoir, “Melania” (Skyhorse Publishing).

“Why do I stand proudly behind my nude modeling work? The more pressing question is: Why has the media chosen to scrutinize my celebration of the human form in a fashion photo shoot?” she tweeted on X this week.

While many in the media shared her post, some of her husband’s party members weren’t so keen on joining the conversation.

“I don't know how to answer that”

“How much do you appreciate the beauty of the human body?” Raw Story asked a confused Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL). “That's a question Melania Trump asked.”

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“The human body?” Tuberville asked.

“Have you seen her new book?”

“Nuh-uh,” Tuberville replied.

“I guess her biography’s coming out, but she goes out on Instagram and defends her nude modeling in the past,” Raw Story informed the senator.

“I guess a lot of people…” Tuberville replied before stopping himself. “I don't know how to answer that.”

Tuberville may not have heard of Melania Trump’s new social media ad campaign, but conservative Mormon Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) had.

“Are you gonna read Melania Trump's book?” Raw Story asked.

“Oh, no,” Romney told Raw Story as he rushed to catch a train after casting his last vote of the week Thursday. “Probably won’t be able to fit that one in, I’m afraid.”

“Did you catch her Instagram about her former nude modeling?” Raw Story asked.

“I heard about that,” Romney said as he shut his car door. “I didn't see it.”

“It might be the last time I speak to you…”

Over on the House side of the Capitol, things got a little awkward when the former first lady’s nudes were mentioned.

“Are you gonna be reading Melania Trump's book?” Raw Story asked the newly minted chair of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), Thursday.

“I have kind of a lot of stuff on my plate right now,” Harris told Raw Story as he was walking back to his office after voting.

“You hear about her call though on Instagram?” Raw Story pressed. “She asked the media if we appreciate the human body over her nude photos.”

“I have my plate as plenty full without worrying about that,” Harris said as he abruptly turned to take questions from another reporter.

While Raw Story quietly walked ahead of Harris and the other reporter, waiting for them to wrap up, we looked over our notes from the previous day when Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) recalled when Harris forced nudity onto the docket when the two served on opposite sides of the aisle in Maryland’s state Senate.

“He thought people were getting addicted to pornography,” Raskin told reporters on the Capitol steps earlier in the week. “But I said, ‘I didn’t think that people were getting addicted to pornography because of movies that were being shown in frats, and if he wanted to cut off all funding for the internet and computers, that might be a more effective way to accomplish his objective.’”

“I’m gonna ask [Harris] about Melania Trump,” Raw Story quipped.

“What did she do?” Raskin asked.

“She’s out on Instagram defending her nude super modeling, which seems like a good question for Andy Harris.”

“Oh wow,” Raskin replied. “Yeah.”

So when the new Freedom Caucus wrapped up his impromptu interview Thursday, Raw Story followed up with Harris on his thoughts on nudity in general.

“Curious, Jamie Raskin mentioned when you guys served in the legislature, you tried to defund [the University of Maryland] because one of the fraternities showed porn?” Raw Story asked.

“It wasn't a fraternity. It was actually in the Student Union, and it was an X-rated movie. Correct,” Harris said.

“Is there any correlation or just apples and oranges with Melania Trump?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about with Melania Trump,” Harris said. “I mean, I just told you, I have no idea.”

“You don’t?” Raw Story pressed Harris on the famous model of a former first lady.

“You don't believe me?” Harris scolded Raw Story. “Don't ask the same question twice. Come on. I have so much better things to do. It might be the last time I speak to you if you ask stupid things.”

What ‘freedom’ caucus?

When Raskin first learned Harris was tapped as the new leader of the Freedom Caucus, he was surprised.

“He’s already been elected? Wow,” Raskin told reporters before offering some free advice.

“I think it’s time for them to change the name of the Freedom Caucus,” Raskin said on the Capitol steps. “Because they’re not supporting the freedom of American women at all. They’re not supporting the freedom of tens of millions of American women who now can’t get health care and are locked into Handmaid's Tale states across the country. They’re not supporting freedom in Ukraine.”

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