Donald Trump has been inspiring comedians since before he launched his presidential bid, but now one comic has put the larger-than-life campaign to music.
Comedian and two-time Miami Beach mayoral candidate Steve Berke croons that Trump is “in your head” in his in his latest parody music video posted online Tuesday, which also features a cameo from Trump’s former political adviser Roger Stone, who makes a Nixonian peace sign salute and closes out the video. Berke wrote the song, setting it to the tune of The Presidents of the United States of America’s “Lump,” an infectious song Berke said he couldn’t shake, making it perfect for a Trump parody.
Stone’s appearance in the video isn’t the only nexus between Berke and the billionaire presidential candidate: Like Trump, Berke was advised during his own political campaign by Stone, the former Richard Nixon acolyte known for his media savvy who until last month advised Trump’s flirtation with presidential politics for nearly two decades.
“He was my senior political adviser much like he was to Donald Trump,” Berke said. “Even before Roger was in the news, when Trump’s campaign was in its infancy, I was telling everyone this has got Roger. It smells of Roger.”
Like the chorus to the song, Berke himself hasn’t been able to get Trump out of his head since the presidential candidate’s behavior at the first GOP primary debate, and the video captures everything that’s made Donald Trump such a political and media sensation: From his brazen demeanor to the unabashed opulence.
The video opens with a man-in-drag re-enacting Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly questioning Trump at the GOP debate about his disparaging comments about women. The response is even more Trumpian than Trump’s “Just Rosie O’Donnell” retort as Berke, dressed as Trump, shoots dollar bills into the air.
But Berke isn’t just looking to milk Trump’s candidacy for its comedic value — or hits on his YouTube account. He’s genuinely intrigued.
“He’s changed the public discourse in this election … he’s motivated young people in this primary to pay attention a year in advance,” Berke said. “I support his candidacy because he is the anti-politician and because he is forcing people to look at issues that weren’t previously being looked at.”
That’s not an endorsement, Berke insists, but he is “absolutely” considering voting for Trump, though it’s too early to tell, he said.
There is something about Trump’s campaign that reminds Berke of his first campaign for Miami Beach mayor in 2011, albeit on a much smaller scale.
Berke’s mayoral campaign, launched largely as a joke and as a platform to push his pro-marijuana legalization views, quickly morphed into a serious effort whose unorthodoxy drew national media attention.
Berke didn’t reach out to the Trump campaign as he produced the video, instead pulling off the project with his friends in just one week, hoping to push the video before the next GOP debate in just two weeks.
Berke has high hopes for the video: “We plan on breaking the internet,” he declared.
For a YouTuber whose most popular parody video “Pot Shop,” inspired by Macklemores’ “Thrift Shop,” racked up more than 14 million views on YouTube, that might not be so far-flung.