Sometimes the greatest "trick" is getting people to say what they really believe.
Warning: The following contains offensive song lyrics.
Legendary prankster and "Borat" star Sacha Baron Cohen infiltrated a right-wing rally in Olympia, Washington and got the participants to sing along with racist and antisemetic lyrics on Saturday.
The event, called March for Our Rights 3, had an attendance of about 500, and was held by The Three Percenters, a group that Southern Poverty Law Center calls part of "the anti-government militia movement."
Baron Cohen took the stage as a singer for a bluegrass group called The All Right Boy, dressed in stuffed overalls and with a fake nose and beard. In an over-the-top southern accent, he sang a call-and-response song about the COVID-19 virus, the Chinese, liberal political figures, CNN and Bill Gates.
During the song, he routinely asked people in the audience to sing "Inject them with the Wuhan flu" and "Chop 'em up like the Saudis do." Not everyone in the crowd was impressed by the song, but the number that chimed in gleefully was disturbing.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=504&v=Wb5dQycDnPE&feature=emb_title expand=1] Sacha Baron Cohen trolls redneck rally. www.youtube.com
Obama, what we gonna do?
Inject him with the Wuhan flu
Hillary Clinton, what we gonna do?
Lock her up like we used to do.
Fauci don't know his head form his ass
He must be smoking grass
We got locked up by a clown
I ain't lyin' it ain't no joke
Corona is a liberal hoax
Dr. Fauci what we gonna do?
Inject him with the Wuhan flu
Inject him with the Wuhan flu
WHO, what we gonna do?
Chop 'em up like the Saudis do
Chop 'em up like the Saudis do
USA is the best
We don't need no COVID test
You're not gonna take away my rights
I don't care about your race
Get that mask off your Commie face
Take that mask off your Commie face
Liberals what we gonna do?
Inject them with the Wuhan flu
Mask-wearers what we gonna do?
Inject them with the Wuhan flu
CNN, they spread fake news
They're controlled by you-know-whos
George Soros and his nasty friends
Anderson Cooper is a liar
His [unintelligible] panties they are on fire
His panties they are on fire
CNN what we gonna do?
Inject them with the Wuhan flu
Journalists, what we gonna do?
Chop 'em up like the Saudis do
The ones who make this disease
Are the snake-eating Chinese
This is why they have small feet
Made it in a sushi factory
And put in on ships to you and me
[unintelligible] ships to you and me
Sushi-eaters, what we gonna do?
Inject them with the Wuhan flu
Chinese people what we gonna do?
Nuclear bomb like in World War II
Nuclear bomb like in World War II
Chinese people what we gonna do?
Nuke 'em up like in World War II
I hate Bill Gates let's turn him off
His penis is Microsoft
[Unintelligible] with micro chips
Scientists don't say one true
They don't love the red, white, and blue
Don't love the red, white, and blue
Bill Gates, what we gonna do?
Inject them with the Wuhan flu
Scientists, what we gonna do?
Feed 'em to a bear like the Czezchans do
The lyrics to the song are obviously offensive but Baron Cohen isn't attempting to spread hate. He's using music to allow people to comfortably express their racist and antisemitic attitudes, proving they are still prevalent in American society.
The event was organized by Matt Marshall, and candidate running for election to the Washington House of Representatives to represent District 2-Position 2. He says that the Baron Cohen camp claimed to be part of a group called Back to Work USA that was helping conservatives get their message out in blue states.
The group paid over $50,000 to fund the event and said they'd bring along a headliner, Larry Gatlin of the Gatlin Brothers.
Secretly, Marshall wondered if the offer was too good to be true. He even discussed his frustrations with people associating his group with racist elements of the right-wing movement.
"I mean, they played the game," Marshall said told NPR. "We talked to them about how frustrating it was to be labeled racist, and they agreed with us. Like, we really let the guard down and trusted them."
Before Gatlin was slated to perform, the group told organizers that they added a bluegrass band last-minute. The group was fronted by Baron Cohen.
"A guy that's like wearing almost a clown suit of red, white and blue gets up there," Marshall said. "Obvious disguise. Like a fake nose and chin. And he starts playing and the first thought when you hear his voice is, 'Dude, is this like a bad impression of Borat?'"
Event organizers tried to rush that stage, turn off the mic and cut off the stage's power generator but they were stopped by Baron Cohen's security team.
"This is my event!" Marshall recalled thinking. "He's not going to turn my event into a racist spectacle!"
Marshall told NPR he was upset that some in the crowd willingly sang along to the song's racist, antisemetic, and disturbingly violent lyrics. "It's sad, it's unfortunate that some people chanted back," he said.
Many have speculated that the stunt was being filmed for a second season of Baron Cohen's Showtime show, "Who is America?" where he routinely tricks right-wing figures into compromising positions.
However, a person familiar with "Who Is America?" production told The Wrap there are no flans for a second season.
Baron Cohen's prank is similar to one he pulled on a bar in Arizona for "The Ali G Show." Dressed as his character Borat, he encouraged bar patrons to sing along to the antisemitic song "Throw the Jew Down the Well."
Borat - Throw the Jew Down the Well!! www.youtube.com
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