Though Sacha Baron Cohen's contributions to the history of exposing political leaders as ethically bankrupt is well-documented, the vast majority of these instances have occurred while Cohen was in character in pursuit of reliably hilarious satire.
In a new piece for Timemagazine out Thursday, the comedian—whose Borat sequel soon hits Amazon—references moments in his career during which he felt he was in danger while also noting the fact that the U.S. as a whole is facing a danger of its own that's far more dire.
"A year ago, I spoke out publicly for the first time in my own voice because I feared that our pluralistic democracies were at risk of being destroyed by a flood of hate, lies, and conspiracies spewed by demagogues and spread by social media," he said. "Since then, this toxic brew has exploded into the open and—with just weeks until the election—these conspiracies threaten to kill democracy as we know it."
Cohen also noted that while the use of "unhinged lies and conspiracies" as part of a power play, what we're facing now marks a "uniquely dangerous moment." From there, Cohen directly criticized Trump and Facebook, noting that the former averages 23 lies per day while the latter has provided Trump (and others like him) with a scarily powerful propaganda distributor.
Cohen warned that Trump—described here as "the world's greatest superspreader of coronavirus conspiracies"—is intentionally trying to ensure his own survival in the world of politics by putting together "an alternate universe" for his followers.
"Conspiracies are lethal—to our health and to our democracy—and Election Day is now only weeks away," Cohen said. "Even as Trump is being treated for COVID-19, he continues to rage-tweet lies and conspiracy theories so fast, it's virtually impossible to correct them all."
Peep the full piece here via Time.
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, a.k.a. Borat 2, hits Amazon Prime on Oct. 23 and does indeed feature references to Trump, Pence, COVID-19, and more.
