Thanks to Twitter, I stumbled upon this wonderfully entertaining and amazingly spot-on impersonation of Donald Trump. The gentleman’s name is
J-L Cauvin. As you can see, he is an extraordinary talent.
What makes Cauvin’s impersonation of Trump so compelling, I think, are three things, three rare gifts that he has:
First, like all great impressionists, Cauvin captures his subject’s voice and inflections to a tee. Indeed, the timbre and intonation of his voice all truly sound like Trump’s. It is remarkable. Cauvin obviously has a great ear.
Second, Cauvin perfectly captures Trump’s facial expressions, contortions, and mannerisms. It is, amazingly, like watching The Donald.
Third, Cauvin is a great writer. He not only looks and sounds like Trump; he speaks like Trump! Thus he perfectly captures Trump’s rhetorical tics and unique style of speaking.
Cauvin’s satirical spoof on Trump’s Easter message (above) is pure brilliance and a joy to behold. In fact, Cauvin is so good that I cannot help but wonder: why has he not received greater national attention?
For example, why has he not been on Saturday Night Live? Cauvin is much more entertaining than Alec Baldwin, who does a very weak and decidedly unentertaining Donald Trump.
The reason may be that Cauvin is too good. He is laugh-aloud entertaining, and his impersonation has the effect of humanizing Trump. And humanizing Trump is the very last thing our progressive denizens of pop culture want to do.
Trump, to them, is a monster, and he must be depicted as such.
It’s too bad because wit and humor can help soften and leaven the political polarization that plagues our country.
But even were that not the case, there is intrinsic wisdom and beauty in great art that is worth contemplating for its own sake. And great art should be considered as such irrespective of the subject whom it depicts.
All of which is to say: Donald Trump may a less-than-admirable human being; but J-L Cauvin’s depiction of Trump is, nonetheless, admirable and impressive—and well worth the moments of levity that it engenders.