In another news story that could only belong to 2020, the President of the US Donald Trump has called Borat “a creep.”
Sacha Baron Cohen’s second film focusing on his intrepid Kazakhstani journalist character, titled Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, was released on Friday, October 23rd.
It’s dominated the internet ever since. First Rudy Giuliani was mad. Now his big boss Trump has had his say on the film and its creator.
According to Variety, Voice of America White House bureau chief Steve Herman reported the news via Twitter, detailing that Trump had discussed the film with reporters while travelling on Air Force One.
“I don’t know what happened. But years ago, you know, he [Sacha Baron Cohen] tried to scam me and I was the only one who said no way,” Trump reportedly said. “That’s a phony guy and I don’t find him funny.”
“To me, he’s a creep,” Trump added succinctly about Cohen.
Asked if he’s seen the #Borat2 footage and if he’s worried about security breaches, @POTUS replies: “I don’t know what happened. But years ago, you know, he (@SachaBaronCohen) tried to scam me and I was the only one who said no way. That’s a phony guy and I don’t find him funny."
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) October 24, 2020
As he hinted at, Trump has previous with Cohen. He featured in a segment on Da Ali G Show in 2003, in which Cohen, as his Ali G character, pitched him an unconventional business idea. Trump was definitely not taken with the idea for an ice cream glove, meant to prevent melting ice cream from dripping on one’s hand, and walked out of the interview.
He later told New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd: “I thought he was seriously retarded. It was a total con job. But my daughter, Ivanka, saw it and thought it was very cool.”
This is the thing about Donald Trump: he’s 50% bad hairpiece and 50% narcissism. If Cohen was a right-wing lunatic and his Borat character had instead hailed the President and his cronies, Trump would have unashamedly been calling him funnier than Charlie Chaplin.
He would probably have been looking to tie up a trade deal with Borat’s home country of Kazakhstan to ‘Make Benefit Glorious Nation of America’.
Cohen took to Twitter on Saturday, October 24th, to respond to his chum’s comments. “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,” he wrote. “I’m always looking for people to play racist buffoons, and you’ll need a job after Jan. 20. Let’s talk!”
Check out the trailer for ‘Borat 2’:
