Sarah Cooper never expected to become internet famous during a pandemic, but now she is a viral TikTok celebrity who makes people laugh without saying anything. How? She lets Trump say it all for her: Cooper lip-syncs Trump’s worst comments from press conferences.
Her recent clips include her dubbing Elon Musk explaining without embarrassment the decision to name his child X Æ A-12, but her first viral moment came following that press conference, when Trump suggested Americans ingest disinfectant to cure the coronavirus.
As soon as she heard it, she knew it was comedy gold. “The thing of trying to put light into your body and inject[ing] household cleaner into your veins – it was so visual to me, and I thought, ‘I have to make this’,” she tells me.
Within hours of the press conference Cooper had uploaded the TikTok video, simply captioned “How to medical” and watched as millions of laughs and likes came rolling in.
How to medical pic.twitter.com/0EDqJcy38p
— Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) April 24, 2020
Cooper is a comedian and author who describes herself as “not the normal demographic for TikTok, which is full of 11-year-olds – many of whom are sad that I am on it.” Still, she has carved out a niche space on the platform, merging comedy and politics, and as someone who voices over Trump’s silliest comments, she finds herself spoilt for choice at the moment.
“It is interesting because as a writer you want to heighten how ridiculous things are. But everything he says is already so ridiculous that it is hard to heighten it,” she says.
She has had many “you couldn’t write this stuff” moments – in fact, she says some of Trump’s comments are so unbelievable that trying to mock him would be worse than using a direct quote. “I saw people saying they shared [my videos] with Trump supporters and for once there is nothing they can say. The clip is literally, completely unedited – I haven’t edited [the audio] at all – so what can they say to argue with it?” she says.
Still, Cooper says a lot without words. Much of the comedy in her videos lies in the way she punctuates Trump’s remarks – a subtle facial expression that gives away just how clueless he is, or a gesture that reminds you of the broader context around what he is saying.
How to testing pic.twitter.com/y9iwLK0N12
— Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) May 9, 2020
A recent video mocks Trump’s statement about White House staffer Katie Miller being diagnosed with Covid-19. It shows her impersonating Trump as he takes a positive swab out of Miller’s mouth, absentmindedly puts it into his own and hands it back to Miller – all while asking how Miller got sick in the first place and pondering aloud whether testing is all that good, anyways. After weeks of Trump marauding around mask-making factories without a mask on; and even refusing to wear one amid a White House Covid-19 breakout, the metaphor feels apt.
Why do the videos resonate so much? “Coming out of my mouth, you realize how much more stupid it is – I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing!” she says. But Cooper thinks there is something else going on here: her videos reassure people that what comes out of the president’s mouth really is as crazy as it sounds.
You never have to watch Trump again. Just watch @sarahcpr as Trump. https://t.co/JnXdrtEUMj
— Lawrence O'Donnell (@Lawrence) May 12, 2020
“I feel like we’ve been gaslighted for years, being told it is totally normal for a president to say things like this. It is a very validating thing to see something remind you that, no, this is actually ridiculous and we can all agree on that,” she says.
Plus, it helps to hear the message without having to hear it from the man himself: “People really hate Trump – a lot. They hate his voice. They hate looking at him. They hate everything about him,” says Cooper. In Cooper’s view, people are watching her videos and collectively commiserating, while also having a laugh at the president’s expense. Can she see an alternative universe in which people might prefer to follow her TikToks, instead of hearing from the president directly?
“That’s a lot of pressure!” she says, adding: “I had Lawrence O’Donnell from MSNBC saying that he couldn’t get the news without seeing my take on it first. I feel like – what kind of monster have I created?” she says. Certainly, considering the goldmine she has discovered, she might just struggle to keep up.
“He writes material faster than I could ever perform it!” she laughs.