Alwaght- American comedian John Melendez comedian has tricked President Donald Trump with a prank call in which he pretended to Democratic senator Bob Menendez, discussing immigration, his Supreme Court nominee, and a public scandal.
The Comedian, a veteran performer on Howard Stern and Jay Leno’s shows, said he actually spoke to the president’s adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, while posing as an assistant, before receiving a call back from the president on Thursday as he was returning to Washington DC from a rally in North Dakota aboard Air Force One.
Melendez, also known as Stuttering John, uploaded a recording of the four-minute conversation to his podcast, in which Trump can be heard revealing his plans to nominate a new Supreme Court.
In the recording, the man identified as Trump also congratulated Senator Menendez for his acquittal in a 2017 bribery case. Menendez was accused of accepting gifts from a Florida eye doctor in exchange for political clout.
“Hi, Bob. How are you? Congratulations on everything, we’re proud of you,” the voice presumed to be the president says, apparently referencing the resolution of a five-year corruption investigation into the New Jersey Democrat. “You went through a tough, tough situation, and I don’t think a very fair situation, but congratulations.”
The pair briefly discussed immigration, with Trump stating, “I want to be able to take care of the situation every bit as much as anybody else at the top level. I’d rather do the larger solution rather than the smaller solution.”
The comedian also urged the president to choose a supreme court nominee who is not overly conservative, with Trump responding that he had “a big list of people” and that he would announce a nominee in 12 to 14 days.
Melendez said that he and a friend initially called the White House and were honest about their identity, but they were told the president was busy. When the comedian called back with an English accent pretending to be “Shawn Moore,” a fake assistant to Menendez, they were successful.
CNN reported that the White House confirmed the gaffe on Saturday, admitting: “The president wants to be accessible to members and likes engaging them and wants them to have the opportunity to connect. The downside of that is sometimes the channels are open too widely and mistakes like this happen.”
The comedian said that if the administration had asked him about Senator Menendez’ party affiliation or even the state for which he is a senator, his cover would have been blown: “But they didn't ask me any of this,” he told CNN.
"I just could not believe that it took us an hour and a half to get Jared Kushner and Donald Trump on the phone from Air Force One,” he added.
It appears that Kushner will be shouldering the blame for the embarrassing blunder. According to Politico, when Legislative Affairs got word of the call, they contacted Menendez’s chief of staff and learned that the senator was not trying to contact the president. However, the call was still put through by Kushner.
Democratic Senator Menendez is an avid campaigner for immigration reform. President Trump and his administration have been under intense scrutiny lately over the long-standing US policy of separating migrant children from their parents at the Mexican border.
