Stephen Colbert finally gets some answers from The Late Show's Melania Trump about that Zara jacket

Stephen Colbert interviews "Melania Trump" on that Zara jacket
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/The Late Show)

"Everyone's still trying to figure out the meaning behind Melania Trump's 'coat-gate,' as no one is calling it," Stephen Colbert said on Tuesday's Late Show. The Zara jacket she wore to visit detained migrant children in Texas, with the words "I Really Don't Care, Do U?' on the back, "hammered home the message that her husband's baby jails only hinted at," though the first lady's spokeswoman said there was no hidden message being conveyed, he said. "This incident raises a question: Is Melania Trump an innocent bystander trapped in a White House she does not agree with? Or is she actively supporting her husband's cruelest policies?"

Colbert went straight to the source — or the Late Show impersonator of the source, Laura Benanti — and she was vague. "So, whose idea was this jacket?" Colbert asked. "It was picked out by my personal stylist, Stephen Miller," the ersatz first lady replied, and she tried out a variety of other clothing-based messaging. "Madame first lady," Colbert said. "I'm starting think your clothes are a purposeful distraction from the heartbreaking images we've seen from the detention centers ..." "No, no, no, don't look at those pictures!" she yelled, taking out a scarf calling for murdering penguins. But the real message — or non-message — finally came into focus with her coat. Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.