Trump impersonator a Trump rally puzzler

There was a bit of strange political theater Monday at the Fox Theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino, where Donald Trump supporters got a big dose of Donald Trump bashing.

The Trump roasting came by way of a stand-up comic from New Hampshire, a 29-year-old car dealership customer support representative by day who is getting a lot of gigs for himself lately as a Donald Trump impersonator. He’s good at it. With a goofy blond wig, dark business suit, red tie and significant waistline, he does a good caricature. His accent, inflection and vocabulary are often pitch perfect.

And Eric Jackman’s material, which he writes with his twin brother, Mike Jackman, is funny.

Jackman as Trump, soliciting applause for Melania Trump’s legs and promising to remake Mount Rushmore with more likenesses of himself, made for an odd guest at the Trump-oriented event Monday at Foxwoods.

The pre-debate show sponsored by radio station 94.9 was billed as a nonpartisan event, including remarks by candidates and a discussion panel, to precede a screening of the Monday night presidential debate.

But it was much more a Trump rally.

Invitations went out to all local candidates for the fall races, but only Republicans showed up. When the audience was asked for a show of hands by Hillary supporters, none went up.

Maybe that’s why Jackman’s Trump jokes seemed to fall increasingly flat on the Trump-hungry audience.

On dismissing a Mitt Romney endorsement, Jackman as Trump said he doesn’t need it, that Mitt could go back to Utah and have himself a big Mormon wedding.

“I will say Mitt and I have one thing in common: three wives, just not all at the same time,” Jackman deadpanned.

A crack about Ted Cruz — “He looks like a truck stop tranny” — got some giggles.

So did the gags about Chris Christie making the Trump campaign bus stop at McDonald’s.

But you could almost feel the audience cringe at some of the most biting satire.

“I love women so much I married three of them,” the Trump impersonator crooned.

Not many issues were spared, including Trump’s strange infatuation with Vladimir Putin.

“He’s tremendous. He said really nice things about me. We are going to negotiate great deals,” Jackman said. “There is no evidence Vladimir Putin has ever killed anyone, anyone. From what I understand, journalists in Russia just like the taste of rat poison.”

On Ivanka Trump: “Ivanka is very beautiful. And If she wasn’t my daughter, we would probably be dating.”

On Melania Trump: “We imported her when she was 12. She started in the kitchen, worked her way up the ladder, and now she’s my wife. Does a great job. Remember Melania, prenup. Prenup.”

On Clinton: “Hillary Clinton is playing the woman card, and I don’t think she can do that. My people have looked into it, and she’s not a woman.”

I caught up with Jackman after his performance and heard about demand for his act.

He got some media attention at the Republican convention in Ohio this summer. He is listed as a Trump impersonator on an entertainment booking website and just got back from a good gig in which a company flew him first class to Chicago for a private party.

His rate starts at $1,000 for a show, but, he adds, like Trump, his price is negotiable.

He told me he was first contacted about coming to Foxwoods this week by Joe Visconti, the unsuccessful Connecticut gubernatorial candidate who was also a speaker at Monday’s panel, delivering a full-throated Trump endorsement, without an ounce of irony.

Vote for Trump, Visconti said, because “what have we got to lose?”

Jackman, who has a degree in political science from Franklin Pierce University, is — naturally, I suppose — going to vote for Trump.

“This has been a gold mine for me,” he said. “I may even be able to quit my day job.”