Porno patriotism: Stormy Daniels is on a ‘Make America Horny Again’ tour

Long Island (dpa) - She arrives to the stage in a red, white and blue shimmering bustier with a star motif on each breast and a red flowing cape - but soon she has shed everything except a glittering blue thong.

This is Stormy Daniels - adult film star and the woman at the centre of a scandal that could topple the president of the United States.

Daniels has been more demurely clad in recent public high-profile appearances with her lawyer to announce two lawsuits against Donald Trump, who denies he had an affair with her in 2006 and paid her off to keep quiet about it.

She has piqued the nation's interest: More than 22 million people tuned in to see her speak on CBS news show 60 minutes.

Tonight's patrons at this Long Island strip club are paying 20 dollars to see her in the flesh as part of her "Make America Horny Again" nationwide tour.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has starred in more than 150 films - most of them pornographic.

The 39-year-old from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has forged a comfortable family life in Texas, where she lives in a Dallas suburb with her third husband and child.

In her free time, she is an enthusiastic horseback rider, a hobby she has had since childhood.

Peers who remember her from her teenage years say she has always been ambitious and competitive, and her choice of high school year book quote echoes that.

"We will all get along just fine," it reads, "as soon as you realize that I am Queen," according to the New York Times.

She worked her way up from the Louisiana strip club circuit to become a headline act, and has been writing, directing and starring in adult films for more than 20 years.

She was one of the industry's most popular actresses when she met Trump, but it was not the first time porn and politics collided for Daniels.

In 2009, she eyed a Louisiana senate seat, and planned to run under the campaign slogan "screwing people honestly" against an incumbent embroiled in a prostitution scandal.

Her campaign never took off, perhaps in part because of a domestic violence charge for allegedly hitting her then-husband that was later dropped.

"I take my country and my government extremely seriously," Daniels told a New Orleans TV station at the time.

But she has also shown a lighthearted sense of humour and willingness to poke fun at herself.

She regularly responds to Twitter trolls with witty quips and recently cameoed on late-night comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live - playing herself in a skit on the phone to Donald Trump, played by Alec Baldwin.

Back at her day job, so to speak - as the headline act she appears at 1am - she is just an hour out of Manhattan, but a world away from the political bubble. The posters advertising her show at Long Island's Gossip Club ask patrons to "leave the politics at home" for the night.

The audience includes a group of women who came to the club as a joke after their nearby PTA meeting ended, lone men, couples and a group of rowdy women celebrating a birthday.

But as cigarette smoke wafts through the air and dollar bills are stuffed into G-strings ahead of the main event, those who didn’t know Stormy was performing can’t resist talking about her - and everyone knows her name.

"She’s a businesswoman and she’s capitalizing on a moment - this is America, why not? If she can do it, God bless her," says 50-year-old Paul Matthews.

"I never thought I’d have a favourite porn star," says Stacey, one of the PTA mums, who declined to give her last name.

"Whoever can take Trump down, I don’t care who it is. I hope she brings him down and I hope she’s okay in the end," Stacey adds.

When the headline act comes out, the Trump talk is over.

She’s not as nimble as her warm-up acts, but Stormy wins the crowd over with charisma and showmanship.

In keeping with the tour’s theme, the performance is pure patriotic kitsch, from her red, white and blue outfit to her song choices.

The familiar guitar riff of "American Woman" by The Guess Who plays as she enters the stage.

The woman many think could kick the president out of office blows kisses to patrons around the stage and waves at a group of gleefully squealing women.

And before she leaves, she makes sure to to say "thank you" for every dollar thrown her way.

Published by dpa International (May 11, 2018)