Can Melania Trump turn the US election on its head?
With less than three weeks until election day, Sky's Cordelia Lynch looks at how Melania Trump might affect the campaign.
Wednesday 19 October 2016 01:59, UK
Melania Trump has spoken in the time-honoured tradition of political spouses - defending her husband in the wake of a scandal.
She didn't utter the exact words "vast left-wing conspiracy", but her interview was straight out of the opposition's playbook, echoing the argument Hillary Clinton made when First Lady in the days after the Monica LewinAG百家乐在线官网 affair.
Melania Trump .
But this wasn't a personal testimony of the man she knew or littered with any gentle anecdotes about the love they shared.
Instead, she focused on laying the blame at the door of the media, suggesting the lewd remarks captured on camera and the allegations of sexual assault that followed were part of an orchestrated hit-job.
The irony is that she chose to sit down with a reporter her husband had already called "very biased".
"They are bashing, bashing, bashing," she claimed, while also questioning the motives of the .
Mrs Trump has had a complicated relationship with the spotlight, retreating somewhat into a media blackout after becoming embroiled in a .
But in this interview she was poised and purposeful, and she is perhaps Mr Trump's best hope of a defence.
She replaced his phrase "locker room banter" with "boys' talk", but her approach was no departure from the narrative the campaign has been increasingly pushing - that Donald Trump may have said bad things, but Bill Clinton did bad things.
Dredging up Mrs Clinton's husband's past infidelities and accusations against him is now a fully-fledged part of the Trump campaign strategy.
Mr Trump's decision to invite Mr Clinton's accusers to the stage was a deliberate spectacle to rattle his opponent.
His wife stood by his move, contending it is only right Mr Clinton undergoes similar media scrutiny.
Over the years, First Ladies have wielded huge influence, both bluntly and subtly.
In Mrs Clinton's case, it proved deeply divisive.
Mrs Trump's intervention is no great surprise. It could soften the public perception of Mr Trump at a critical time.
But by continuing to talk about the allegations, she also ensures they have another day of news coverage - something you presume the campaign would want to avoid.
If she made it to the White House, she says she would like to guard against online bullying. The irony that her husband frequently uses social media to attack his critics appears to be lost on her.
Mr Clinton is far more acquainted with his critics; his wife's campaign seemingly cherry-picking his appearances.
This 2016 race has put spouses in centre-frame. Michelle Obama has advised both to just "do you".
But Michelle Obama's ability to unify - at times when the rest of the nation is unhappy with her other-half - is striking for its rarity.