Trump Stands Like a Toddler, Has No Center of Gravity, Says Comedian Who Plays Him on TV

Donald Trump
US President Donald Trump addresses a 'Make America Great Again' rally at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio, July 25, 2017 Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

What does it take to physically embody President Donald Trump? Standing like a toddler, perfecting mannerisms of former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and a donning a heavy, tiring fat suit. That's the description given by a man who should know better than anyone what's involved, Anthony Atamanuik.

Related: White House Aides Treat Trump Like a Child, Never Saying 'No' and Inventing Distractions

The Comedian, who plays Trump several days a week on Comedy Central's The President Show, has provided the lowdown on the challenges of morphing into the president to CNN on Late Night in the Age of Trump, set to air Monday night. And he claimed there were particular peculiarities to grasp in order to nail down Trump's posture.

"I learned that he has no center of gravity, he's always pitched forward," Atamanuik said. "He holds his arms like a toddler, sort of at the sides. Adult humans tend to have a little bit of a wing gate, they hold their arms up a bit but he lets them, like a puppet, just lie to the side."

It is not just his mannerisms that have been liked to that of a child. In his choice of insults, his extreme sensitivity to criticism and his use of Twitter, the president has got many wondering about his mental development.

Numerous reports have suggested that his advisers in the White House have altered their manner of communicating with him accordingly. It has been suggested that, in order to navigate the president's short attention span, his staff includes as many pictures and as many mentions of his own name in memos as possible. Advisers are also reported to have also repeatedly and unsuccessfully attempted to control the president's use of Twitter.

But there is more to getting a hold on Trump than simply reverting to a child-like posture, Atamanuik said. A hint of a dictator is also required.

"He has an animal thing with his jaw where he pushes his jaw forward, and does this Mussolini sort of turn when he's at press conferences," he added. "He doesn't like to move his neck."

In terms of the president's speech patterns, Atamanuik described him as a "cyclical" and "lyrical" talker. But, he adds, Trump is a lot less fun when he's stuck in front of a teleprompter.

"He's not an effective reader so everything is this unemotionless, like reading a list of menu items to somebody," he said. "But when he was free he was just all over the map."

For Atamanuik, however, there is one challenge that stands above all others in becoming Trump: taking on the extra pounds.

"The fat suit," he said. "Physically to be Trump, I wonder what its like to be him because I just have to put it on for six hours, he has to wear that body all the time. Too bad Donald!"

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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Jason Le Miere is from the British island of Jersey, which has absolutely no relation to the Garden State, other than ... Read more

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