Famous Donald Trump impersonator ‘choked’ by lib supporter: Security fears mount after ex-POTUS assassination attempt
Longtime Trump impersonator John Di Domenico, who even has Donald Trump's approval for his satirical spoofs, once faced a near-fatal scare like the ex-POTUS.
Comedian John Di Domenico’s world-famous status for satirically portraying former President Donald Trump precedes him. However, despite being credited with bringing laughter to many through non-political parody skits, the comic was subjected to safety scares amid the surging near-fatal incidents real-life former POTUS has had to deal with, beginning with the first attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July. The life-threatening issue for the American actor appears to have slipped out of control to the extent that the performer’s friends have urged him to wear bulletproof vests while performing at gigs.
Dressed in full-on Donald Trump makeup, John was exposed to a near-fatal scare of his own years before Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to kill the former POTUS at the Butler rally. According to The Sun US, an out-of-sorts, aggressive Liberal supporter once tried to choke him in a Las Vegas hotel elevator. The longtime 62-year-old Trump impersonator has been donning the Republican leader’s proverbial skin for over two decades, and now he, too, feels that both sides of the political contest are reacting severely to seeing the politician in any form.
Also read | Georgia election bomb threat: Poll worker arrested for sending chilling letter about concealed ‘boom toy’
Longtime Trump impersonator John Di Domenico's near-fatal scare in Las Vegas
The unexpected happened in 2018 when John, who was dressed as Trump, came face-to-face with a heart-rending encounter. A livid senior citizen joined him inside a hotel elevator after his Mandalay Bay Resort show. “An older gentleman turns and looks at me and my feeling is literally, okay we made it to the elevator,” John recounted. “And in that thought, in that moment, he grabs my throat and he starts choking me.”
Di Domenico’s producer Jack had to tell the other person at the time that John wasn’t actually the MAGA leader. However, the man counter-struck them with the response, “Yes, but it’s what he stands for.”
“And he got his hands off and the doors open, the security came and got him. My feeling was I cannot be without at least one person, basically two.” The incident ultimately got the impersonator to rethink his choices and security resources, and now he “always” demands “some form of security.”
Surging security concerns
‘The Donald’ star told the outlet how people close to him have been pushing him to “be careful” and “wear a bulletproof vest” because one can never know “if someone wants to do another assassination attempt.”
With people even boiling over Trump’s “human avatar,” he said that while the probably of someone trying to assassinate him wasn’t quite up there it was “not out of the realm of possibility that something could happen.”
In the kind of uncertain times we live in, there’s no saying what could trigger someone into pulling out another AR-15-style choice of weapon and committing the unspeakable. “I don't feel that I'm going to be shot at, but in today's environment, you just don't know someone wanting to make a point,” the comic added.
Also read | Pro-Kamala billionaire Mark Cuban enjoying luxurious $13.5m condo perks in landlord Trump's iconic building
He also considered the possibility of his potential assaulter being from either side of the conversation because “one of the things is people think I'm mocking him, and then you have people think I am him until they get close enough and see that I'm not.”
Hard work pays off? Trump approves of his impersonator
As a satirist, John tried his best to be “as authentic as possible,” mirroring Trump’s outfit choices from top to bottom. His $5,000 worth of handmade wig earns him extra praise for his dead-on reflection of the real deal. He even writes his sketched on his own. However, nothing has been the same for him since the former commander-in-chief started campaigning for his 2016 election bid in 2015. Although the initial early 2000s seemed like a walk in the park while portraying the character, Trump’s journey to the White House in 2016 politically turned the picture upside down. People eventually started projecting their vehement reactions for Trump, and telling John that they didn’t like him.
“Some people like it, some people don't. But they're sometimes making the judgment basically on the fact that I'm a satirist. And nothing gratifies me more than people who leave comments on my YouTube channel saying, 'Hey, I love Trump. I'm voting for Trump and this stuff is funny,” John said.
The in-demand Trump impersonator has since even received the politician's approval. Former Counselor to the President of the United States, Kellyanne Conway, reportedly confirmed this, saying that the Republican leader called his satirist the “nice Trump” and has his team even hired his team to do voiceovers across opportunities.
Domenico's anxiety over his security may presumably be at an all-time high after the July 2024 assassination attempt, and the satirist has witnessed wild reactions all around. However, it's just something no one can ever come to terms with. “If we're on the streets of New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, I cannot tell you the times that people yell from across the street and you just don't really feel too secure, so I'm kind of trying to mitigate those situations and do more indoor things,” the spoof performer explained.
Read more | Catch all the newsmakers, detailed explainers and deep analysis of the US. Elections