It sounds like something out of a political satire, but a US comedian has reportedly managed to prank call US President Donald Trump, speaking to the controversial Head of State under the guise of a US Senator.
As The Hill reports, comedian ‘Stuttering John’ Melendez uploaded a podcast recently which contains audio that he alleges was recorded from a phone call between himself and US President Donald Trump.
Melendez managed to pull off this hoax by calling up The White House last week and pretending to be the similarly-named Democratic Senator Robert Menendez. After initially calling up under his real identity and being rebuffed, Melendez then called back claiming to be the US politician.
After a bit of back and forth, and a few stretched truths, Melendez is then called back by Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who asks what he wants to speak with the President about. After being satisfied that the call will discuss matters of immigration and policy, Kushner gives Melendez the go-ahead, and the two are soon engaged in a brief conversation.
At the start of the call, Donald Trump can be heard congratulating the fake Senator, referencing his previous acquittal in a case of federal corruption. “You went through a tough, tough situation, and I don’t think a very fair situation,” Trump stated. “But congratulations.”
The call continued for a couple more minutes, during which time Trump and Melendez talk about matters of immigration and the upcoming nomination for a new justice of the Supreme Court.
“This just shows you how easy it is to infiltrate the White House,” explains Melendez at the end of his podcast.
Whether you're a republican or democrat you should be truly scared by how easily I got through to the President. This is not partisan. It's just plain scary.
— John Melendez (@stutteringjohnm) July 1, 2018
Eventually, the hoax was discovered after a representative for the White House attempted to speak to the real Robert Menendez in regards to the call, only to be told that no such call had actually taken place.
“I am shocked … I mean we did this as a goof, I’m a comedian,” John Melendez explained to 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.”
“All they had to ask me is what party affiliation is Sen. Menendez, or what state is he a senator of, and I would not have known. But they didn’t ask me any of this.”
A spokesperson for the White House confirmed the authenticity of the call, explaining that: “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.”
As The Hill notes, congressman Gerry Connolly explained that such a call has “chilling” implications in regards to the state of White House security.
“I’m shocked this was able to get through,” Connolly explained. “And it really does raise questions about what kind of security filter do we have on Air Force One, presumably the most secure set of communications in the world?”
Breaking: Secret Service contacted me agent & wants me to meet with them tomorrow. Stay tuned, Avenatti, can you come with me?
— John Melendez (@stutteringjohnm) July 1, 2018
John Melendez has since taken to Twitter earlier today to note that the Secret Service have been in contact with him, and have set up a meeting with him tomorrow. While it’s not clear whether or not this is just another joke that the comedian is playing, it iss very apparent that the White House don’t like to be taken for fools.
Check out ‘Stuttering John’ Melendez’s call with Donald Trump:
