UPDATE 10/25 7:45 p.m. ET: The Law & Order: SVU episode featuring a Donald Trump-esque politician will air Wednesday, November 16, eight days after the real-life presidential election.
UPDATE 10/14 9:15 p.m. ET: NBC has decided to pull the episode from its scheduled October 26 time slot, and instead air it at some point after the November 8 presidential election.
Original story below:
Another politician is about to face a tough campaign road! Law & Order: SVU is centering on a Donald Trump–like candidate in its Wednesday, October 26, episode, and the first promo shows the character offering a bit of grandstanding that might sound familiar to those following the real-life 2016 presidential race.
The venerable NBC crime procedural’s upcoming installment will feature a politician, played by guest star Gary Cole (Pineapple Express), whose campaign begins to crumble after several women make damaging accusations against him. (The specific claims have not yet been revealed.)
“I’m a handsome, charming millionaire — women throw themselves at me,” the candidate (Cole) says in the clip above. “Know that I have nothing to hide.”
The episode airs roughly two weeks before the November 8 election, just as Trump’s presidential campaign has started to unravel. The Associated Press reported in a story published October 3 that the real estate mogul made sexual and demeaning comments about female contestants while hosting The Apprentice.
On Friday, October 7, the Washington Post published a video featuring a conversation between Trump, 70, and Access Hollywood’s then-anchor Billy Bush, with the GOP presidential nominee bragging about groping women and making advances on Nancy O’Dell.
The audio, recorded by a hot mic on an Access Hollywood bus in 2005, has become a focus of the race, with Trump apologizing for it and defending it as “locker-room talk” at the debate on Sunday, October 9. GOP members have since been calling for him to drop out.
Watch the promo above.
Law & Order: SVU airs on NBC Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
