Comedy Central is on a sizzling late-night run, as The Daily Show with Trevor Noah knocked out its highest-rated and most-watched quarter ever for the first quarter of 2017. It is the number one daily late-night talk show among millennials and the only one of that group to increase year-over-year ratings and viewership.
There has been so much winning that the network has attracted the self-proclaimed winningest winner of all to late night: U.S. President Donald J. Trump.
Well, sort of. Renowned Trump impersonator Anthony Atamanuik will helm The President Show, a weekly production that purports to be broadcast direct from the Oval Office, where the faux commander in chief can circumvent the crooked media’s fake news factories for straight Trump talk.
How good is Atamanuik-as-Trump? Pretty flawless:
“Laughing at the President is a proud American tradition and we hope not to disappoint anyone in that department,” said Atamanuik. “But our political system is too broken for us to be content joking about one man, even though he is a disastrous silly little toddler boy. Mostly I’d just like to thank Comedy Central for giving us this platform to speak truth to power and if we’re lucky, end up in prison!”
Standing in for a brash name-calling Trump is hardly a new role for Atamanuik, whose 40-city Trump vs. Bernie tour established an avid fanbase. Fusion specials complemented the tour:
He has reprised the role on The Howard Stern Show, The View, and CNN Newsroom, as well as Comedy Central’s @midnight with Chris Hardwick:
The President Show will debut on Comedy Central after The Daily Show with Trevor Noah on Thursday, April 27 at 11:30 p.m. Atamanuik’s show is just the latest announced in an expanding late-night lineup for the network; Australian comedian Jim Jeffries will host his own weekly late-night series beginning this summer.
