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Listen To The Donald With A Cockney Accent

by Chris Tognotti

Thursday night was kind of a let-down, right? Sure, if you're a likely Republican voter who was trying to parse who you should support in the upcoming primaries, maybe the seventh GOP debate was everything you hoped it would be. But for the rest of us liberals, fans of political absurdity, or general troublemakers, it was missing something crucial: boorish Republican front-runner Donald J. Trump. But luckily, if you missed Trump's usual impact, maybe this hilarious video will help ― Donald Trump with a Cockney accent, courtesy of Peter Serafinowicz.

Your familiarity with the 43-year-old Serafinowicz probably depends on the media you consume. A successful actor and comedian, the Briton has appeared on Parks and Recreation, and in films like Shaun of the Dead, Guardians of the Galaxy, and even Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (he dubbed the voice of antagonist Darth Maul, appropriately enough).

But the video he tweeted out on Thursday represents a new, shining pinnacle of comedic voice work, helped along by the fact that Trump just sounds so, well, perfect with a lumbering, low, vaguely threatening cockney accent. Why not go ahead and give it a look? It's only about a minute-and-a-half, so I'm sure you can find the time.

Serafinowicz tweeted out a link to the video on Thursday evening, and made it clear precisely what it was ― despite the delightful vocal performance on his part, the actual words Trump says are his own. The dubbed-over voice is the only change. Trump, as you've probably learned pretty well by now, is a big-time braggart, and at this particular campaign event in Iowa, he was complaining that he wasn't getting enough credit for Bernie Sanders' surge in the polls, which he claimed credit for because of his attacks on Hillary Clinton. But the rant takes on an altogether more sinister edge thanks to Serafinowicz's expert performance.

It's not the first time he's had some fun at Trump's expense, either. This cockney accent version (the title of the YouTube video is "Donald Thump") is the third Trump dub video he's made, alongside a pair of "Sophisticated Trump" videos that demonstrate how Trump's interviews would sound if he spoke with a upper-crust, well-elocuted British accent. Both of them are pretty damn funny, and drive home the same point as the latest one ― Trump's blunt, pompous, halting delivery is actually compatible with a wide array of strange, hilarious vocal ranges. Here's one of the posh Trump videos, for good measure.

Hopefully Serafinowicz will have at least a few more ideas for lampooning Trump before the campaign season is all said and done. Although by the time the Iowa caucuses roll around, you probably won't find him in short supply ― if Trump actually manages to win that thing, you can bet he won't let anyone hear the end of it anytime soon.