It looks like actor and notorious prankster Sacha Baron Cohen infiltrated an alt-right rally in Olympia, Washington, on Saturday and had people sing along to a highly offensive song. The comedian disguised himself as a bluegrass singer and took to the stage dressed in overalls and a fake beard at the rally organized by the far-right militia group the Washington Three Percenters. And he began singing a song that included lines about injecting former President Barack Obama, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Hillary Clinton, the World Health Organization, CNN, and anyone wearing a mask, among others, with “the Wuhan flu” or chopping them up “like the Saudis do.” Some members of the audience seemed to be happy to sing along and cheer the offensive lyrics.

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Baron Cohen made his appearance at the “March for Our Rights 3” rally, which took place at Heritage Park and around 500 people attended. An organizer of the event claimed in an interview the comedian pretended to be the leader of a political action committee that wanted to sponsor the rally. He then reportedly hired his own security to prevent the event organizers from cutting him off after he started performing. He “came on stage disguised as the lead singer of the last band, singing a bunch of racist, hateful, disgusting shit,” Yelm City Councilman James Blair wrote in a Facebook post that was later deleted. “His security blocked event organizers from getting him off the stage or pulling power from the generator.” In another Facebook post, Blair wrote that he was “ashamed of any individual who was singing along with the lyrics of this song, whether they were an actual attendee or a paid actor doesn’t matter to me.” He also said he was “disgusted” that Baron Cohen would turn “a peaceful family event into a mockery.”

Holy shit 😂

Sacha Baron Cohen infiltrated the Washington 3% (local rightwing militia) event in Olympia a few minutes ago. A last-minute big donor paid to sponsor the event, and hire security... And then that security kept the organizers from getting on stage to stop Cohen. 😂 pic.twitter.com/mllLkKBcpZ

— Spek (@spekulation) June 27, 2020

The rally had been organized by the Washington State Three Percenters, a far-right militia group. The name “three percenters” originates “from the dubious historical claim that only 3 percent of American colonists fought against the British during the War of Independence,” notes the Southern Poverty Law Center.

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This post is by a city council member in Yelm, Washington. Earlier this afternoon, Sacha Baron Cohen crashed the event of Washington 3% - a right-wing group of armed insurrectionists and white supremacists - in Olympia.

I look forward to the video... pic.twitter.com/zilUA2zJQU

— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) June 28, 2020

Baron Cohen is the host of the Showtime show Who Is America?Although Showtime has yet to formally cancel or renew the show, many wondered whether this prank would turn into material for a second season of the show. This prank was reminiscent of a time Baron Cohen as his famous character Borat got an audience to sing “Throw the Jew Down the Well.”

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• Comedy
• Racism
• Sacha Baron Cohen
• Washington