Donald Trump Has Inspired a Law & Order: S.V.U. Episode

By Laura Bradley

My fellow Americans, weve done it. Weve reached Peak 2016. How, you ask? Later this month, NBCs beloved procedural Law & Order: S.V.U. will be tackling a new ripped-from-headlines subject: a politician whom several women accuse of misconduct. Yes. This year, the Republican nominee will make it on to S.V.Uas a(n) (alleged) perp. Were really earning that home of the brave moniker this year.

Gary Cole (Veep, Entourage, Office Space) will play the Trump stand-in, according to The Hollywood Reporter . Ripped-from-headlines fare is S.V.U.s bread and butterthis season opened with two reality-based episodes in a rowbut theres an added layer to this one: NBC, the dramas home network, owns pretty much all of the properties that play major roles in Trumps personal saga. Theres The Apprentice, through which many Americans met him; Access Hollywood, which gave us the disturbing hot-mic video that surfaced Friday; and Today, which has suspended Billy Bush for his role in the video.

Before the 2005 Access Hollywood tape surfaced, the Associated Press ran a feature that interviewed several Apprentice alumni about their experience working with Trump on the show. Put together, the interviews generally describe a sexist work environment in which Trump regularly said whatever he wanted about women, their bodies, and their desirability.

Not much is known about the S.V.U. episodes plot, but theres already one sad diversion from reality: it sounds like in the shows fictional world, womens allegations about Coles character are enough to send his campaign into a tailspin. In the real world, it took a video tape to corroborate what manywomen had already been saying about Trumps character and behavior for months. Hell, years .

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