Recently Sacha Baron Cohen has been doing something he’s rarely done before: He’s spoken as himself. Usually he stays in one of his characters, but even when discussing his new sequel, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, he’s played things straight, earnestly discussing the serious issues his comedies bring up. Even when Donald Trump insulted him, he made sure to respond not as Borat but as himself.
On Friday, the president was asked by reporters about the climax of the film, which finds his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, in a compromising position with actress Maria Bakalova, whose character is 15 years old. As he often does, Trump played ignorant, saying he didn’t know anything about it, but he did claim that, 15 years back, he was the target of a failed Baron Cohen prank. “That’s a phony guy. And I don’t find him funny,” he said. “To me, he was a creep.”
Baron Cohen wasn’t having it.
Donald—I appreciate the free publicity for Borat! I admit, I don’t find you funny either. But yet the whole world laughs at you.
I’m always looking for people to play racist buffoons, and you’ll need a job after Jan. 20. Let’s talk!https://t.co/itWnhJ8TQF
— Sacha Baron Cohen (@SachaBaronCohen) October 24, 2020
“Donald—I appreciate the free publicity for Borat! I admit, I don’t find you funny either. But yet the whole world laughs at you,” Baron Cohen tweeted. “I’m always looking for people to play racist buffoons, and you’ll need a job after Jan. 20. Let’s talk!”
Giuliani isn’t the only member of the Trump administration. Mike Pence plays a key role — and makes an appearance relatively early on — while a deleted scene finds Bakalova’s character, who winds up infiltrating right wing media, worming her way into the White House and shmoozing with Donald Trump Jr. At one point Borat even dons an elaborate Trump costume and gets thrown out of CPAC. If only Baron Cohen had gotten a one-on-one with the infamous Stephen Miller.
You can watch Baron Cohen’s latest film — full title: The Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan — on Amazon Prime now.
(Via Deadline)
