Sacha Baron Cohen Promises Us A Scathing New Trump Parody
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Thirteen years after Sacha Baron Cohen fooled Donald Trump while in character as Ali G — the English comedian posted a mysterious video this week on July 4th, where the POTUS refers to his adversary as a “third-rate character,” saying: “Go to school, and learn about being funny, because you don’t know sh**.” Trump’s remarks are not new (the video was released in 2012, shortly after Baron Cohen dumped ashes on Ryan Seacrest at the Oscars that year). But, Baron’s face flashing across the viral video has since been added as a teaser, ending with a Trump University symbol and a slogan reading “Sacha Graduates.”
A message from your President @realDonaldTrump on Independence Day pic.twitter.com/O2PwZqO0cs
— Sacha Baron Cohen (@SachaBaronCohen) July 4, 2018
The English comedian is clearly back with a vengeance.
It comes as a surprise to no one that their opposing views on comedy (the video shows Trump stating “I only wish that he [Baron] would’ve been punched in the face so many times right now he’d be in a hospital.”) would cause their already turbulent relationship to spiral into mayhem once Trump took office. Throughout the years, the “Borat” actor would include subliminal jabs about the controversial business mogul into his parodies. Below is a timeline of their stormy feud throughout the years.
2003:
Baron Cohen disguises himself as Ali G for an interview with The Apprentice’s Donald Trump, where he unconvincingly tries selling him a business idea. The former TV personality fires back by bragging that he was one of the few guests to ever leave the interview. At the time, he tweeted, “I never fall for scams. I am the only person who immediately walked out of my Ali G interview.”
2012:
When Ryan Seacrest interviews “The Dictator” star at the Oscars, he spills an urn filled with what appears to be Kim Jung Un’s ashes. Trump does not find it to be comical. “If that ever happened to somebody with real security, Sacha Baron Cohen would not be in good shape right now. He’d be in a hospital. I only wish Ryan took a swing at him.”
2016:
“Da Ali G Show’s” character appears as a guest on the “The Late Late Show” with James Corden. In response to whether or not Trump knew he was being fooled, he says: “He claims that he saw through the interview. But actually he was there for about seven minutes.”
2017:
Baron starts incorporating Trump’s presidential proposals into his comedy. “The only person who would ban muslims is someone with a brain like a female chicken. It is clearly a parody of a rich American racist,” he says on Jimmy Kimmel Live. In Baron Cohen’s latest movie, “The Brothers Grimsby”, a satirical news headline reads: “Trump has aids.” We’ve yet to hear anything besides for crickets in response.
2018:
As viewers heard word of Sacha’s more serious upcoming role in Netflix’s Israeli spy film, it became impossible to think of a world without him in the comedy spotlight. When he released a trailer over July 4th centered on mimicking Trump, we breathed a sigh of relief. Any comedy aimed at Trump, prevails.
Bonnie Azoulay is an intern at the Forward.
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