Republican Congressmen Support Arming Toddlers on Sacha Baron Cohen’s New Show
Screencap via YouTube
Much has been written about Sacha Baron Cohen’s new Showtime show, Who Is America, and how, in typical Sacha Baron Cohen fashion, he’s tricked Sarah Palin, Joe Arpaio, Roy Moore and various other public figures into doing or saying embarrassing things on camera. Of course Palin, Arpaio, Moore and their ilk have never needed Baron Cohen to thoroughly embarrass themselves on camera on a regular basis—extremism and extreme ignorance is how all three became famous in the first place. At a time when many prominent conservatives have abandoned whatever tactics they formerly used to downplay their true intentions, and openly support bigotry, divisiveness and a dangerous fraud like Donald Trump, you might wonder why Baron Cohen feels the need to resort to his old Ali G playbook and dress up as various new characters to encourage these extremists to reveal what they don’t even attempt to conceal. Even after watching his show, which premieres tonight, you might still question its existence.
Capitalizing on the large amount of publicity that angry politicians have afforded the show this past week, Showtime released an extended preview of Who Is America on YouTube today. You can watch that below. In it Baron Cohen plays an Israeli anti-terror expert who gets various pro-gun activists and current and former Republican Congressmen to support a program that would arm toddlers to prevent school shootings. Trent Lott, the former Senate Majority Leader from Mississippi, stares directly into a camera and endorses arming “highly-trained pre-schoolers.” Dana Rohrabacher and Joe “You Lie!” Wilson, two sitting members of Congress, also speak in favor of the patently absurd plan. Congressman-turned-radio host and well-known Twitter dunce Joe Walsh cuts a professional commercial-worthy testimony in support of the idea, signing off with “Happy shooting, kids.” Somehow only ascendant Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, a star of the far right and large-headed living embodiment of the Florida Man meme, refused to endorse Baron Cohen’s proposal—not because he recognized how ridiculous it was but because he didn’t have enough information on it yet. (Gaetz, by the way, is apparently a big fan of Baron Cohen’s work.)
This clip runs long—it’s over ten minutes, which feels like an eternity on YouTube—but if you’re interested you can watch it right here.