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Arts & Entertainment

Watch This 8th-Grader Nail Impersonations of the 2016 Presidential Candidates

By
Madeline Farber
Madeline Farber
By
Madeline Farber
Madeline Farber
June 17, 2016, 4:07 PM ET
University Of Birmingham Hold Degree Congregations
Christopher Furlong — Getty Images

Illinois eighth-grader Jack Aiello gave his middle school graduation speech in the voice of presidential candidates Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz—and nailed each one.

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5CcU-kbxuU#action=share

“I’ve decided that since we’re in the middle of an election year, that I would do my graduation speech in the style of some of the 2016 presidential candidates,” Aiello begins in the video.

What then unfolds is a series of spot-on impersonations of the candidates.

Aiello 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,” he said, speaking as Sanders.

As Trump: “We’re learning languages from Spain, from France, from Germany, and China,” he said during his Donald Trump impression. “You know, people say I don’t like China, I love China. I mean, I love China. I mean, I have so many terrific friends in China. But I took Spanish and let me just tell you, by the way, that it was fantastic. Muy fantastico.”

The soon-to-be high-schooler delivered the speech as one of three finalists in his 350 person class. His parents told NBC Chicago that he hopes of a career in politics or comedy.

“He’s been doing them since he was very young—family members, teachers, he even makes up his own silly voices and he’s been doing that for a very long time,” his mother Carla Aiello told the outlet. “And then with the election, he watches the news clips and he just absorbs everything.”

About the Author
By Madeline Farber
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