Author: Jennifer Konerman

March 23, 2016 10:00pm PT by Jennifer Konerman

Anthony Atamanuik, James Adomian  Courtesy of Comedy Central

Comedians Anthony Atamanuik and James Adomian performed their presidential impressions on Wednesday’s episode.

Anthony Atamanuik and James Adomian starred in a very special episode of Chris Hardwick’s @Midnight on Wednesday, taking on the personas of presidential candidates Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. 

The hour-long episode served as the comedy game show’s election special, starring the two comedians in what was billed as its “#MidnightDebate: Trump vs. Sanders.” The Comedy Central show changed up its format from three comedians battling against one another in a series of comedy challenges to feature a pseudo-debate between Atamanuik’s Trump and Adomian’s Sanders. The duo appeared on the show to promote their upcoming Fusion special, Trump vs. Bernie, airing on April 27. 

“For months voters across this great land of ours, and also Michigan, have been tasked with the incredible responsibility of choosing our next president,” introduced Hardwick, “and boy have they been blowing it!”

“They’re here to pander for your votes,” he continued, welcoming Atamanuik (as Trump) to the stage to boos from the audience, to which the comedian replied, “get them out of here, waterboard them!” 

Hardwick offered them both time for opening statements, which Adomian (Sanders) used to talk about his recent endorsements from some fake unions and “one half of Crosby, Stills Nash & Young.” He added that he’s doing really well with “shoppers who shop at Whole Foods who feel bad about shopping at Whole Foods.” 

Atamanuik (Trump) used his time to boast that he has “received a rose in every single ceremony,” adding in several non sequiturs before a few random offensive phrases. The episode included questions from Twitter, which covered Trump’s family, the middle class, Muppets and ghosts. 

@Midnight’s usual segment called “Hashtag Wars” went political in this episode with #IfIWerePresident, asking the two candidates (and fans playing along on Twitter) to share what the country would be like if they were in charge. 

Atamanuik (Trump): “I am going to hunt down Rosie O’Donnell like Osama bin Laden.” 

Adomian (Sanders): “I would put the rich Wall Street bankers in the same prison that Magneto goes in, and I would institute a national Netflix account with one password!” 

Jennifer Konerman

THRnews@thr.com

March 23, 2016 10:00pm PT by Jennifer Konerman

Anthony Atamanuik, James Adomian  Courtesy of Comedy Central

Comedians Anthony Atamanuik and James Adomian performed their presidential impressions on Wednesday’s episode.

Anthony Atamanuik and James Adomian starred in a very special episode of Chris Hardwick’s @Midnight on Wednesday, taking on the personas of presidential candidates Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. 

The hour-long episode served as the comedy game show’s election special, starring the two comedians in what was billed as its “#MidnightDebate: Trump vs. Sanders.” The Comedy Central show changed up its format from three comedians battling against one another in a series of comedy challenges to feature a pseudo-debate between Atamanuik’s Trump and Adomian’s Sanders. The duo appeared on the show to promote their upcoming Fusion special, Trump vs. Bernie, airing on April 27. 

“For months voters across this great land of ours, and also Michigan, have been tasked with the incredible responsibility of choosing our next president,” introduced Hardwick, “and boy have they been blowing it!”

“They’re here to pander for your votes,” he continued, welcoming Atamanuik (as Trump) to the stage to boos from the audience, to which the comedian replied, “get them out of here, waterboard them!” 

Hardwick offered them both time for opening statements, which Adomian (Sanders) used to talk about his recent endorsements from some fake unions and “one half of Crosby, Stills Nash & Young.” He added that he’s doing really well with “shoppers who shop at Whole Foods who feel bad about shopping at Whole Foods.” 

Atamanuik (Trump) used his time to boast that he has “received a rose in every single ceremony,” adding in several non sequiturs before a few random offensive phrases. The episode included questions from Twitter, which covered Trump’s family, the middle class, Muppets and ghosts. 

@Midnight’s usual segment called “Hashtag Wars” went political in this episode with #IfIWerePresident, asking the two candidates (and fans playing along on Twitter) to share what the country would be like if they were in charge. 

Atamanuik (Trump): “I am going to hunt down Rosie O’Donnell like Osama bin Laden.” 

Adomian (Sanders): “I would put the rich Wall Street bankers in the same prison that Magneto goes in, and I would institute a national Netflix account with one password!” 

Jennifer Konerman

THRnews@thr.com

March 22, 2016 9:49pm PT by Jennifer Konerman

Bernie Sanders on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’  Randy Holmes/ABC

“At the end of the day, we cannot allow the Trumps of the world to use these incidents to attack all of the Muslim people in the world.”

Senator Bernie Sanders appeared on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday night to talk about where he stands in the election, the Brussels terrorist attacks and, of course, Donald Trump. 

The Democratic presidential candidate sat down with Jimmy Kimmel, who started the interview by asking Sanders if it’s strange to be noticed so much on the street now, taking selfies with fans at Kimmel’s show, when “last year nobody knew you in L.A.” 

“It is a bit of a shock,” Sanders told him, “but it’s a good shock — I’ll take it.” 

Sanders added that even he finds it somewhat surprising that he’s doing as well as he is in the election process, but when it came to his stance on reforming Wall Street, he “knew the message would resonate.” 

Kimmel also asked Sanders about the Brussels attacks on Tuesday as well as Trump’s response, in which Trump said, “I would close up our borders to people until we figure out what is going on.”

“At the end of the day, we cannot allow the Trumps of the world to use these incidents to attack all of the Muslim people in the world,” said Sanders. “That is unfair. That is not what this country is about.” 

Kimmel also asked Sanders how he thinks he appears in the media compared to Trump. “We focus on the issues,” Sanders said, which he thinks the media doesn’t like to cover as much as Trump’s antics. “We like the fun stuff!” Kimmel joked.

Sanders added that he doesn’t speak to Trump, “and I did not go to his wedding,” he joked, referencing the photo of Clinton at the candidate’s 2005 wedding to Melania Knauss. 

Addressing the seemingly never-ending 2016 election process, Kimmel asked him how effective he thinks the current system is. “I’m not quite sure this is the best way to elect a president of the United States,” Sanders admitted.

Earlier on in the show, Kimmel joked in his monologue, “Bernie has ignited a lot of passion, primarily among young people. And the incredible thing is, he did it without posting even a single nude selfie,” Kimmel said. “Bernie can get very fired up. I watch him on these debates. But remember, if it seems like he is yelling at you, it’s because … he is. And you deserve it.” 

Kimmel’s other guests Tuesday were The Night Manager’s Tom Hiddleston and musical guest Granger Smith.

This was Sanders’ second appearance on Kimmel’s late-night show. Last October, he joined Kimmel to discuss his electability against candidates like Clinton and Trump. 

Clinton will also be on Jimmy Kimmel Live this week, appearing on Thursday’s show with Peter Krause and Fifth Harmony. 

Jennifer Konerman

THRnews@thr.com