Future U.S. President Donald J. Trump has long been a target for casual parody. There are music videos, Simpsons clips, sketches, and spoof porn, all made for the simple pleasures of sending up The Donald.
In September 2005, Sesame Street got in on the fun, taking on the flamboyant real-estate mogul and reality-TV star.
“Everybody knows Donald Grump!” Elmo says in the episode “Grouch Apprentice.”
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“His name is on every piece of trash in town,” another character remarks admiringly.
The episode introduces Donald Grump (LOL, get it?), a loud, rude, taunting braggart of a Grouch who is the “trashiest” furry creature on Sesame Street. He has bright orange hair, wears a power suit, and is hosting a contest for a new “apprentice.”
Grump enjoys firing contestants, including Omagrossa (a clear reference to Omarosa, perhaps the most famous personality ever to compete on Trump’s The Apprentice), while exclaiming the catchphrase, “You’re fired!” The episode ends with Elmo being awarded Grump’s crazy hairpiece, and Oscar and Grundgetta firing Donald. (For the record, Trump has gone to great lengths to prove that he does not wear a toupee.)
Trump is part of the small fraternity of presidential candidates who have seen themselves turned into Muppet or Sesame Street parodies. For example, the show parodied Ross Perot with a new character named Ross Parrot in 1993.
“Grouch Apprentice” wasn’t even the first time Sesame Street poked fun at Trump. In 1994, Oscar winner Joe Pesci appeared on All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever! as “Ronald Grump,” a villainous real-estate tycoon who wants to demolish Sesame Street and replace it with glittering high-rises.
Here’s behind-the-scenes footage from the special that involves Pesci making an oral-sex joke at a Muppet:
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment on whether or not the 2016 Republican frontrunner is a fan of Sesame Street, or what he thought about Donald Grump.
