Two soldiers do their best Donald and Melania Trump impressions as they stand in for duo at impressive inauguration dress rehearsal
TWO soldiers doing their best impressions of America’s soon-to-be President and First Lady stood in for Donald and Melania Trump at a dress rehearsal today ahead of the inauguration in just five days time.
Greg Lowery, a 53-year-old vocalist in the U.S. Army band, wore a black coat, white shirt and red tie and raised his right hand as if to take the oath of the nation’s highest office as he played the part of the President-Elect on Sunday.
The sergeant major stood in for the soon-to-be 45th president while other band members were also given prominent roles.
The goal was to practice Inauguration Day events so everything goes off as flawlessly and on time as possible for the actual swearing-in on Friday.
Lowery, who said his role was to “look the part as much as possible,” said the substitutes were chosen primarily because they are as tall as the people they were playing. He bought a new, red tie for the assignment, though he acknowledged it wasn’t Trump brand.
“It’s just a real honour for all of us to be here this morning,” Lowery said.
Spc. Sara Corry, who arranges music for the band, wore a white peacoat and nude pumps to stand in for Trump’s wife, Melania.
Corry, 28, said her shoes were new, and while Melania Trump’s fashion choices will be a topic of conversation, Corry didn’t know what designer she was wearing.
Unlike Melania Trump, a native of Slovenia, Corry said she’s from Capistrano Beach, California. Her husband-for-the-day, Lowery, has two sons, unlike Trump who has five children.
The faux first couple was joined by Master Sgt. Neil Ewachiw, 47, and Master Sgt. Leigh Ann Hinton, 50, band vocalists who were standing in for Vice President-elect Mike Pence and his wife, Karen.
During Sunday’s dry run, the stand-in president-elect and vice president-elect waved to rows of empty chairs and raised their hands as if they were being sworn in. They spent some time adjusting their positions so that cameras set to capture the real swearings-in could get the best angle, and then workers marked the spots for the actual players.
Around them, the capital was still being readied for Inauguration Day.
Workers unfurled a large flag between a pair of columns. Some red, white and blue bunting remained draped in plastic to protect it, and the sound of sawing and hammering could be heard intermittently during gaps in the patriotic music.
Not everyone participating in the pageant needed to be a good match for the person they were playing, with men playing women and women playing men. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who will swear in Pence and became the court’s second African-American member when he joined the court in 1991, was played Sunday by a woman with long, blonde hair.
One closer match for his counterpart was 12-year-old Charlie Blunt, the son of Republican Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, who was drafted to play Trump’s 10-year-old son Barron. Asked after the rehearsal whether he had any pointers for Barron, Charlie said: “just smile and don’t slouch.”
Thousands of white chairs have been laid out for invited guests across the National Mall and hundreds of thousands more are expected to come in crowds to stand.
250,000 tickets have been allotted for the event and there is space for another 500,000 people to stand behind the ticketed area.
Proceedings will begin at 9.30am ET on Friday with music from a handful of performers. It is tradition for the President-elect and his wife to attend a morning worship service beforehand.
At 11.30am, opening remarks will begin. President-elect Trump will be sworn in at 12pm by Chief Justice John Roberts.
Pence will be sworn in as Vice President by Clarence Thomas shortly beforehand.
After he is sworn in, Trump will deliver his inaugural address. A departure ceremony for Barack Obama will follow.
Trump will then attend an Inaugural Luncheon in the Statuary Hall of the Capitol building before embarking on the Inaugural Parade down Pennsylvania Avenue towards the White House.
In the evening they will attend the first Inaugural Ball.
Despite a growing list of no-shows, Trump told tweeted to his followers on Saturday: “Inauguration Day is turning out to be even bigger than expected. January 20th, Washington D.C. Have fun!”
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