Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, the Democratic and Republican candidates are fighting it out for every vote, including from members of the United States’ sizeable Greek-American community. A month-old video resurfaced on Greek social media, falsely claiming that it shows the former president and Republican nominee dancing the popular Greek folk dance “Zeibekiko”. Social media users commented either expressing support for Trump or criticising him for “doing anything for a vote”. However, the person in the footage is not Donald Trump but a comedian impersonating him.
With less than four weeks to go until the November 5 election, presidential nominees Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are preparing for the final push in what could be the closest US presidential election in recent history (archived here).
Although Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said that the election result will not affect ties between Greece and the United States, both campaigns are vying for votes from the Greek-American community, which has had a significant presence in several US states since the early 20th century.
In late September, Facebook users shared two videos (here and here) of a person resembling Donald Trump dancing the Greek folk dance Zeibekiko, claiming it showed the former president and current nominee.
The video was previously shared more than 900 times in a viral TikTok post on June 20, 2024. “UNLIKELY TRUMP DANCES EUDOCIA’S ZEIBEKIKO DANCE”, reads a caption on the video. Similar claims, including the video or screenshots, were shared on TikTok (here), X (here) and this Greek website.
In the comments, many people appeared to believe the video shows Donald Trump and expressed their support for the US presidential candidate with clapping emojis and messages like “President Donald Trump in power for the security of the whole world.” Others criticised the footage.
They sell their soul for a vote,” wrote one user. “They do somersaults to take the power,” said another.
However, the video features an impersonator of the former president, not Trump himself.
Donald Trump impersonator
A reverse image search led to this X post from June 2024, which includes a TikTok video created by a user named “bobdibuono”, as seen on the left hand side of the clip.
A search for the username “bobdibuono” led us to the original video posted on Facebook on May 23, 2024, on the account Bob DiBuono Live (archived here).
AFP investigated Bob DiBuono’s online presence and found he is a comedian who sells customised videos in which he impersonates the former US president.
AFP Fact Check found the same video on Instagram posted the same day (archived here) by the verified account @bob_dibuono, where he describes himself as a “comedian and the top Trump impersonator. Appearances on Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel, ABC”.
DiBuono usually wears Trump’s red MAGA hat and has also performed as a stand-up comedian in New York City.
DiBuono also describes himself as a “comedian and top Donald Trump impersonator” on his TikTok profile (archived here)
DiBuono has posted videos on his social media accounts where he mimics Donald Trump. A similar video of DiBuono dancing Greek dances while pretending to be Trump can be found on his TikTok account here (archived here).
In June 2024, the news show “Savvatokyriako with Manesi” reported on Bob DiBuono: “Bob DiBuono from America is the doppelganger of the American president, he appears as Donald Trump in shows, he is invited to parties as a special guest, he could easily double for Trump at public appearances and is paid handsomely for every appearance”, says a video from the show dedicated to the American comedian. The video (archived here) was also posted on Bob DiBuono’s YouTube profile on June 17, 2024.
“Since 2016, I’ve been doing a Donald Trump all over the world for corporate events, private parties”, says DiBuono, who appears in the video. “Our job is to reflect back the craziness of what goes on on the world, it’s like art imitating life”, he adds.
He also has a personal account on Cameo, a platform that allows people to request personalized video messages from celebrities. On his profile, he describes himself as a “Comedian—Donald Trump Impressionist.” Through this site, anyone can book a personalised video with him, and he promotes his services as a “master impersonator” whose videos “are a must-watch for any true Trump fan.”
Moreover, DiBuono has attracted attention from media outlets for his impersonation of Donald Trump. A 2017 CNN report described him as a “Donald Trump impersonator”. Similarly, Fortune includes DiBuono in a 2016 article about presidential impersonators (archived here). And in 2016, Rolling Stone magazine mentioned Bob DiBuono as a comedian who played the former president in a fake interview.
DiBuono also confirmed that it was him in the video: “I am in the video, which was taken on my cell phone at a birthday party in America,” he told Greek fact-checking organization Ellinika Hoaxes on September 23, 2024. AFP had not received a response from him by the time of publication.
AFP has previously debunked a similar claim in English involving another Trump lookalike. AFP has verified a number of false or misleading claims about the US elections here in Greek and here in English.
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Originally published here.
