‘Scandal’: Donald Trump-Style Character Set To Join The Show
All eyes may be on the 2016 presidential race right now, but TV show Scandal is currently in the middle of airing a presidential race of its own. Creator and writer Shonda Rhimes has always been keen to keep the show politically relevant and, as such, is set to introduce a character based on the incredibly controversial Donald Trump.
The ABC drama is, of course, based around President Fitzgerald Grant’s White House, but with his second term quickly coming to an end, the race is on to find his predecessor. In its fifth season, the show is currently focused on a presidential race, with contenders including former First Lady Mellie Grant, Vice President Susan Ross, and Francisco Vargas, played by Bellamy Young, Artemis Pebdani, and Ricardo Chavira, respectively.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, a character modelled on Donald Trump will join the show in tonight’s episode. The cast remained tight-lipped on the details around the new character, however, Bellamy Young did say that “there might be some parallels coming.”
Scandal is no stranger to modelling many of its characters on real-world political players. Most notably, of course, is Bellamy Young’s own character, former First Lady Mellie Grant, who many have likened to Hillary Clinton. That being said, the key difference being that Grant belongs to the Republican party in the show.
As reported by Digital Spy, many of Scandal’s stars spoke at PaleyFest earlier this week about where this season of the show is heading, with Scandal’s own presidential election preparing to take a step up to the next level. The show’s main star, Kerry Washington, went on to speak about the presidential debates that the show is about to hold, saying “if you think the debates you’ve seen in the real world are fun…”
It definitely looks like the stars of Scandal are going all out in their mock presidential election. However, for many fans of the show, Scandal’s presidential election is an awful lot more important than the real thing.
As mentioned, unlike many politically themed TV shows, Scandal is based around the Republican party, initially focusing on President Fitzgerald Grant. However, as Grant’s tenure as president is coming to a close, the show is moving into finding his replacement, with his wife, Mellie Grant, widely tipped to take the top job.
That being said, when it comes to the upcoming presidential election in the real world, stars of the show appear to have an altogether very different opinion. Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn, alongside stars of Shonda Rhimes’ other shows and Rhimes herself, recently came out in support of Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. With that in mind, playing characters that revolve around the GOP is definitely an alien concept for the cast.
Hello, Mr. President! ? #Scandal #PaleyFest pic.twitter.com/RWGrx9QfRc
— Scandal (@ScandalABC) March 16, 2016
Scandal has quickly grown into one of the most popular politically-themed dramas on television, and that’s no surprise considering the stellar job it has done when it comes to echoing the real-world political scene. Because of that, it’s really no surprise to see a character modelled on the infamous Donald Trump making an appearance.
What will be something of a surprise, however, is Donald Trump’s reaction to that character. The episode of Scandal set to feature a character that bears a resemblance to Donald Trump will air on ABC at 9 p.m, with Season 5 of the hit show currently airing every Thursday on the channel.
Just how much of a resemblance the Scandal character bears to Donald Trump will be revealed during tonight’s episode of the show, and we’d expect to see plenty more similar characters also join the show in the future.
[Image via ABC]
