When NBC News went on the air on Thursday to cover President Trump’s disgraceful conviction by a kangaroo NYC court on bogus crimes, they attempted to take a subtle shot at Trump supporters in the process, but it ended up backfiring on them.
As the Media Research Center (MRC) reported Friday, NBC reporter Laura Jarrett was on air breaking down her “analysis” of the disgusting verdict when the network’s cameras cut to a hysterical “Trump fan” in the middle of her report who was screaming like a deranged lunatic while holding a “Free Father Teresa” sign.
There was just one problem for the network, though. The man in the video, who MRC identified as Tony Barbieri, is an actor who occasionally performs for far-left ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel on his show Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Barbieri calls himself “Jake Byrd” and travels across America acting like a crazed right-winger for Kimmel’s fans.
The video clip compiled by MRC opens by showing Jarrett speaking for a minute before Barberi enters the picture while she continues her report. The video then cuts to footage from a Jimmy Kimmel Live episode where the actor pretends to be Jake Byrd, claiming Trump supporters don’t think the 45th President is innocent; they don’t care.
He then high-fives a “reporter.” Following a clip of CBS reporter Robert Costa, Barberi is shown “admitting” that he does not know what fraud means but says even if Trump committed election fraud, he is still not guilty.
WATCH:
LAURA JARRETT: Savannah, it’s a resounding victory for the prosecution in a case that they pitched as something far greater than about hush money. The way they tried to cast this case was about the subversion of democracy. And today the jury agreed with them, Savannah. The former president has tried to cast this as a political prosecution. A political hit job by a Democrat-elected D.A., by a judge that was biased against him. But these 12 jurors, these 12 New Yorkers have come to a different conclusion, an independent conclusion that the former president of the United States is guilty of 34 felony counts.
You can hear the crowd here.(Barbieri can be seen in the video screaming like a maniac while holding a “Free Father Teresa” sign)
There’s a lot of Trump supporters out here that you can hear, are very worked up as I was reading the verdict, I could hear the crowd. Emotion growing behind me. I’m only a couple of yards away from the area that you can see on your screens right there, sort of, the First Amendment area, if you will. Just a stone’s throw away from the press area. It’s been growing as the day went on.
It’s growing after they heard that this verdict was coming in. A lot of emotions are running very high in the city right now. Again, this is the presumptive GOP nominee in the middle of an election year for things that he did that the prosecution said that he did to try to corrupt the last election. A remarkable scene playing out right here in Lower Manhattan.
(The video then cuts to a Jimmy Kimmel Live episode)
FOREIGN REPORTER: Why are you here today?
TONY BARBIERI [portraying JAKE BYRD]: We’re here to support the real president, Donald Trump.
[ON TV3CAT]: It’s not that we think Trump is innocent. It’s that we don’t care.
LIDIA HEREDIA SOLER: [Speaking Foreign Language]
BARBIERI: Up top. Thank you.
SOLER: Thank you.
(Video then cuts to CBS News)
ROBERT COSTA [CBS]: Trump supporters across the country, there’s anger and frustration right now. And Trump campaign officials are arguing this is going to make Trump stronger inside the party.
(Back to Jimmy Kimmel Live)
BARBIERI: They say he’s guilty of fraud. What does fraud even mean? What’s it mean? I don’t know, do you know?
BRITISH REPORTER: Election fraud is what they found him guilty of. By hiding information that voters might have used to vote differently. That’s essentially what they found him guilty of.
BARBIERI: Okay, well, maybe he did that, but he’s not guilty.
MRC notes that NBC is not the first media outlet to treat Barberi as a real conservative. For example, CNN interviewed him pretending to be a Herschel Walker supporter back in 2022.