On June 3, 2024, The Borowitz Report published an article positing Melania Trump said it would be a cruel and unusual punishment for her if former U.S. President Donald Trump was placed under house arrest.
Melania Says House Arrest for Trump Would Be Cruel and Unusual Punishment for Her
NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—Writing an impassioned letter on Monday to Judge Juan Merchan, Melania Trump argued that sentencing her husband to house arrest would mean cruel and unusual punishment for her.
Mrs. Trump wrote that confining her husband to any place where she resides would be a clear violation “not only of the US Constitution, but of the Geneva Conventions.”
Similar claims could be seen elsewhere online, such as on X, political forum Political Hotwire and another forum called Democratic Underground. It also appeared on The Borowitz Report’s Instagram account.
However, this item was not a factual recounting of real-life events. The Borowitz Report’s Instagram profile described its output as being satirical in nature, as follows:
Published since 2001, The Borowitz Report is an award-winning news satire column read by millions around the world.
Likewise, its website said its content was written by satirist Andy Borowitz, who has “been writing satirical news since [he] was eighteen.”
… in 2001, I started emailing made-up news stories to friends. One suggested that creating a “website” would make it easier to “blast” my “posts.” Soon, The Borowitz Report was live …
Borowitz’s Facebook page describes him as a comedian.
On May 30, 2024, a New York jury found Donald Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records. He was the first U.S. president to be convicted of a felony.
Judge Juan Merchan scheduled Trump’s sentencing hearing for July 11, 2024. That is when any punishment, including potential prison time, will be announced. Trump said he would appeal the decision, which could delay the start date of his punishment, whatever it may be, until after the November 2024 presidential election.
For background, here is why we sometimes write about satire/humor.