Fusion has hired gifted impressionists Anthony Atamanuik and James Adomian to play Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, respectively, in “Trump vs. Bernie,” a new cross-platform video series that will see the Republican billionaire and the Democratic socialist senator argue over the issues driving the 2016 presidential election, TheWrap has learned.
The series will follow Atamanuik and Adomian over the course of the presidential campaign in character as two of the most popular presidential candidates.
To kick things off, the comics’ Trump and Bernie take in the Super Tuesday results tonight during a special Facebook live-stream at 11 p.m. ET — all from the comfort of the hotel room they’ve wound up sharing.
Installments of “Trump vs. Bernie” will live across Fusion’s OTT platforms, Facebook, YouTube, and FComedycom, the digital hub for Fusion’s comedy and satire content.
In addition, Fusion will air a one-hour sketch special this spring featuring the greatest moments from their campaign tour and a second primetime broadcast featuring a debate between the two candidates.
The digital series and corresponding television specials will be produced by Serious Business, an Emmy-winning production company that created and executive produces Comedy Central’s late-night show “@midnight.”
“Our show is comedic activism and an opportunity to present the best cutting political satire of the 2016 election cycle. We are certain that, partnered with Fusion, Trump vs. Bernie will be a much needed indictment of the Clown Car politics of this year’s primary season. Trump vs. Bernie is a scathing delivery of truth as comedy in a media sea of confusion and collusion to maintain the status quo,” said Atamanuik.
“We are beyond excited to be bringing our Trump vs. Bernie debate series to Fusion. The crowd response to our live tour has been fantastic, and the opportunity to now do it for a wider audience on TV and the internet is exactly what we want,” said Adomian. “Anthony and I have been playing Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders respectively for a while and I can’t describe the pure fun it has been touring together – it’s almost like an evil vs. good pro wrestling event. Doing fun but dangerous political satire like this in the middle of a national election for a big audience is a lifelong dream.”
“James and Anthony are two of the most brilliant satirists we’ve seen. Through their outrageous takes on Trump and Sanders, they’re holding a mirror up to an election that is shaping up to be the biggest circus yet,” said Bryan Carmel, head of comedy and VP of development at Fusion. “We are thrilled to have this talented duo coming to Fusion to satirize the political process. Idealogues on both sides of the political spectrum are in for a treat.”
The digital series and specials will be an extension of a live tour that Anthony and James have embarked on through the early voting states. The duo recently performed live on the F-Comedy stage at Riot LA to rave reviews.
9 More Donald Trump Fudges and Lies From Primary Season (Videos)
Donald Trump seems to be on an unstoppable charge to the Republican presidential nomination, even though there's been a plethora of news reports challenging various claims he has made in the past two months alone. Here are some of his greatest hits.
During the CNN South Carolina town hall debate, Anderson Cooper asked Trump about a interview posted on Buzzfeed in which Trump voiced support of the Iraq invasion. Trump responded by saying that he opposed the Iraq invasion by the time it started, but Buzzfeed countered with a clip from another taken the weekend after the invasion started, in which he said the invasion looked like "a tremendous success."
On Jan. 29, Trump said that he "never once asked" for Fox News' Megyn Kelly to be removed as a moderator for a debate that he boycotted. While Trump didn't directly request the removal, he did question Kelly's qualifications. On Jan. 23, he tweeted: "Based on @MegynKelly's conflict of interest and bias she should not be allowed to be a moderator of the next debate."
During his New Hampshire victory speech, Trump claimed the unemployment rate of 5 percent was false, and was actually somewhere between 28-42 percent (fast forward to 12:00). While the unemployment rate most commonly reported does not count people who are not actively seeking jobs, there is another which includes more people attached to the labor force. Under this, the unemployment rate only rises to 10 percent.
Another claim from the N.H. victory speech is that Trump is the only candidate who self-funds his campaign. A check of documents from the Federal Election Commission shows that as of the end of 2015, Trump had put in nearly $2 million to his campaign, but he had received just over $6.5 million from donors.
During a Jan. 20 town hall in Iowa, Trump said that he could make Mexico pay for a border-spanning wall by using the U.S. trade deficit with Mexico to cover the cost. Politifact debunked it, citing several economic experts who noted that the trade deficit is based largely on private trading, and that Mexico's trade surplus does not mean that they have the resources to fund such a wall.
This attack ad against Ted Cruz that aired in South Carolina this past month is one of many examples of Trump claiming that illegal immigrants are "pouring in." The hyperbole ignores a 2015 Pew Research study that shows that the illegal immigrant population in America has actually declined by about 1 million since the start of the recession.
At a rally on Feb. 19, Trump claimed that General John Pershing captured 50 Muslim terrorists in the 1920s and executed them via firing squad with bullets dipped in pigs' blood. The truth is that while Pershing fought against Muslim swordsmen in the Philippines to stop the massacre of Christians, he only sprinkled them with pigs' blood -- which they considered to be unholy -- to strike fear. He never ordered such an execution.
Trump continues to insist that torture techniques like waterboarding work. He does this despite the fact that just two years ago, a Senate Intelligence Committee report on the CIA's use of enhanced interrogation techniques made headlines when it called them "not an effective means of acquiring intelligence or gaining cooperation from detainees."
In a Jan. 14 debate, Trump claimed that there were very few women and children among the Syrian refugees. Two surveys by the U.N. count the number of Syrian refugees in the Middle East and North Africa as well as the number of refugees that have crossed the Mediterranean Sea into Europe. In both surveys, women and children make up approximately 50 percent of the total refugee count.
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In just the past two months, the GOP frontrunner has raised many red flags with fact checkers
Donald Trump seems to be on an unstoppable charge to the Republican presidential nomination, even though there's been a plethora of news reports challenging various claims he has made in the past two months alone. Here are some of his greatest hits.
