One of Donald Trump’s key advisers appeared on CNN on Sunday to defend Melania Trump after the New York Post published nude photos of the Republican presidential candidate’s wife.
Jason Miller, the campaign’s senior communications adviser, said during an appearance on Reliable Sources that the photos of Melania Trump are “a celebration of the human body as art.”
He added: “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. She’s a beautiful woman.”
The Post printed a photo of the former model sans clothing on the cover of its Sunday edition with the headline “The Ogle Office.”
Several more nude photos ran inside the newspaper. They reportedly were taken 21 years ago by photographer Jarl Alé Alexandre de Basseville for now-defunct French men’s magazine Max and had never appeared online.
EXCLUSIVE: Melania Trump like you’ve never seen her before https://t.co/GZwLuejORJ pic.twitter.com/ukdet3CJRY
— New York Post (@nypost) July 31, 2016
In the article accompanying the photos that was posted online, Donald Trump is quoted as saying: “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.”
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On CNN, Miller echoed that sentiment: “These were photos that are 20 years old, before Mrs. Trump met Mr. Trump.”
De Basseville also has shot Dior perfume ads and worked with stars including Diane Kruger, according to the Post.
For his part, the photographer also defended the pictures. “I think it is important to show the beauty and the freedom of the woman, and I am very proud of these pictures because they celebrate Melania’s beauty,” said de Basseville.
