Sacha Baron Cohen, racking up the hits. Image by Getty Images

Former Illinois Congressman, current radio host, and relentless Tea Partier Joe Walsh posted his harrowing story of deception and false pretense on Twitter late Tuesday night.

The victim: Walsh, the charming fellow behind controversies like calling Stevie Wonder “another ungrateful black multi-millionaire” for taking a knee during a national anthem. The nationally syndicated Walsh is known for his habit of appearing to call for violence in public forums against various targets such as Black Lives Matter supporters, Barack Obama, and all Hillary Clinton voters.

The con: that feckless Jew-y trickster Sacha Baron Cohen, whose upcoming project with Showtime has already gathered unflattering footage of Dick Cheney signing waterboarding materials and Sarah Palin chatting with a person she took to be an injured veteran (but was actually Baron Cohen in disguise.)

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Walsh came clean in a lengthy, somewhat addictive, narrative-driven Twitter thread. He says that he was invited to a “pro-Israel dinner” in Washington to honor “defenders of Israel.” Believing that he was being honored alongside Rupert Murdoch, Steven Spielberg, and Bono, he submitted to a pre-dinner interview in which “out of left field the interviewer starts talking about how children should defend themselves against terrorist attacks.” Walsh says he “stopped and questioned their direction,” then left as “an apparent fight broke out,” clutching a glass award embossed with his name over the words “significant contributions to the state of Israel.”

And just like that producers rushed me out of the studio as an apparent fight broke out. Strangest interview of my life – don’t think they spoofed me very much – but I did get this award, thanks @showtime. #boycottShowtime pic.twitter.com/yTZcxTww6O

— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) July 11, 2018

With greater finesse than Palin, who called Baron Cohen a “piece of s**t” in her social media rant on the same topic, Walsh acknowledged that Baron Cohen is a funny comedian before admonishing him for “mocking a disabled veteran” and encouraging a boycott of the Showtime network.

Conning a conservative pundit into revealing the depths of his feelings about state-sponsored violence by flattering him with a fake pro-Israel award is awfully clever. But is there any way for Baron Cohen to con a man who says wild things to a national audience for money into saying something worse?

We’ll find out this Sunday night.

Jenny Singer is the deputy lifestyle editor for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount