President Donald Trump’s balcony stunt has been likened to Evita (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Donald Trump is transformed into Evita in a brilliant parody of his worrying COVID-19 balcony stunt.
Trump defied isolation requirements as he returned to the White House from hospital on Monday evening (October 5) before being cleared of COVID-19, amid reports that he had gotten “bored” during his stay at Walter Reed Medical Center.
The media stunt saw him descend via helicopter into the White House Rose Garden before taking up a spot on the balcony of the executive residence, where he was filmed removing his mask, waving and saluting.
The moment has been likened by many to the iconic balcony scene in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Evita, which sees Eva Perón (played by Madonna in the 1996 film adaptation) address her adoring supporters from the balcony of the presidential palace with immortal showtune “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina”.
Luckily, anti-Trump political group The Lincoln Project was on hand to take the moment to its logical limit, with a new musical ad that dubs the president “Covita“.
The ad casts Trump as Evita, re-imagining the musical’s centrepiece to fit the president’s apparent disregard for medical recommendations, including the lyrics: “Don’t cry for me White House staffers, the truth is I will infect you. All through my tweeting, my mad existence, I broke my promise, won’t keep my distance.”
It continues: “I always say too much, never mind the thousands of lies I have told to you. As for wearing masks and acting sane, that is nothing I will ever do.”
Some might note that the rather apt choice of musical, given Evita revolves around the wife of Argentine president Juan Perón — a leader “slightly to the right of Atilla the Hun” who rose to power with populist support, but is now reviled as a Nazi sympathiser who allowed war criminals to take refuge in his country.
OG Evita star Patti LuPone takes on Trump balcony stunt.
Also keen to highlight the Evita connection was actress and vocal Trump opponent Patti LuPone, who won a Tony Award for her role as Eva Perón in the original Broadway production.
Taking to Twitter, LuPone mocked Trump’s out-of-breath appearance on the balcony, quipping: “I still have the lung power and I wore less makeup. This revival is closing November 3.”
While the singer in the Lincoln Project video is uncredited, some have speculated that it could even be LuPone herself — though, if so, the singer is yet to fess up.
LuPone previously told Variety: “This country is doomed. I think it is a failed experiment. I don’t see us pulling ourselves out of this.
“I think we’re heading into either fascism or a dictatorship. I think Trump will win a second term, and I think I’ll move to Ireland.”