Trump vs. Bernie

In a deliberately absurd anachronism, "Trump" (Atamanuik) and "Bernie" (Adomian) engage in inter-party debates long before their parties' nominations are decided.

[1][2][3][4][5] Adomian began impersonating Sanders in May 2015, making an appearance on Dan Harmon's podcast Harmontown and in a Funny or Die short with a television debut on a September episode of @midnight.

"[9] The duo, having known each other from the improv scene since 2008, connected to stage a fake debate in a one-off live sketch on October 12, 2015, at UCB's stand-up showcase "Whiplash.

According to Hardwick, a Comedy Central executive present at the taping decided to preempt originally scheduled programming to extend the 30 minute show to an hour because he was so impressed.

Presented as "Loudbox," a cable news program hosted by Rachel Maddow (Atamanuik) and Chris Matthews (Adomian) with panelists Donna Brazile (Nicole Byer), Jeb Bush (Daniel Van Kirk), and Ben Carson (Jerry Minor), the pundits ignore an impending cataclysmic asteroid strike in favor of political optics while throwing to interviews and field pieces with Trump and Bernie.

Atamanuik also impersonates alleged serial killer Robert Durst while Adomian plays former Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura.

[21] Comedy Dynamics released Trump vs. Bernie: Live from Brooklyn Starring Anthony Atamanuik and James Adomian on July 29, 2016, on vinyl as well as on iTunes and other streaming services.

[23] On February 12, 2016, a week after the New Hampshire primary, CNN's Brooke Baldwin interviewed Atamanuik and Adomian on Newsroom as if they were the real life candidates.

Critic for The New York Times Jason Zinoman said of their initial debate, "The best sketch about the current political campaign that I've seen this year was not on 'Saturday Night Live.