© 2024 WFSU Public Media
WFSU News · Tallahassee · Panama City · Thomasville
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

WATCH: 8th-Grader Nails Impersonations Of Trump, Clinton, Obama, Sanders

Maybe we're all just taking politics too seriously these days. Eighth-grader Jack Aiello used his 8-minute graduation speech to impersonate Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, President Obama, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

Aiello, speaking as Sanders, said his school had the best cinnamon rolls he'd ever tasted, but "I do have one improvement for them, though: We need to make them free."

"Why should students have to pay for their own cinnamon rolls? Doesn't make any sense. What we need is a cinnamon roll revolution."

Aiello graduated from Thomas Middle School outside Chicago. His principal told NBC that he was the "hands-down No. 1 pick" for speaker among teachers and staff.

Speaking as Trump, Aiello said, "Congratulations, you are now getting to hear a speech from the magnificent Donald Trump. And let me just tell you that Thomas has been such a great school. Quite frankly, it's been fantastic."

As Cruz: "Thank you, Donald. Let me start by saying this: God bless the great school of Thomas!"

And, as Clinton, he thanked the teachers for being "our champions. They've given us the skills to get us through sixth grade, and through seventh grade, and eighth grade, and now we're going to take those skills and apply them to high school!"

Aiello's father John told ABC that Jack has been interested in politics for several years. "He's always been good with impressions," John said, "so while watching along with his mom and I, he picked up phrases and mannerisms of the candidates."

"He started with impressions of his parents, of course. He then moved on to teachers at school, and it developed to the point where he's very good at picking up mannerisms and tones."

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Amita Kelly is a Washington editor, where she works across beats and platforms to edit election, politics and policy news and features stories.