It really is a golden age for pranksters, especially in America.

Sometimes, all you have to do is head to a Donald Trump rally and wave around a microphone, and the hard work is done for you.

In the case of Sacha Baron Cohen, though, he likes to ramp up the performative aspect, and 2018’s Who is America? series really uncovered some gems.

I reckon this one takes the cake.

Sacha isn’t resting on his laurels, and over the weekend he managed to infiltrate the pro-gun “March for Our Rights 3” rally in Olympia, Washington, performing in disguise and leading a singalong with lyrics about injecting liberals “with the Wuhan flu”.

Details below via HuffPost:

By first posing as a sponsor and filling the rally with his own entertainment and security staff, Baron Cohen was able to pull off the stunt without being removed from the stage, organizers said.

One of the event’s organizers, Matt Marshall ― the founder and former leader of the Washington Three Percent, a group aligned with the far-right militia movement ― posted on Facebook that the intruders presented themselves as a political action committee that offered to pay for the entire event.

Here’s part of his on-stage performance, including a reference to chopping up journalists “like the Saudis do”:

Some of those watching on are having a right old time of it.

If you feel like watching the entire singalong, you’ll find references to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, among others:

What a heckin’ good time.

Once the crowd realised that they were being taken for a ride, security personnel took Baron Cohen from the stage to a waiting ambulance, which he used to leave the event.

The Washington Three Percent distanced itself from the organising of the event, but did say was appalled by the performance, saying they found the “racist and antisemitic jokes and songs” repugnant.

Except for those enthusiastically singing along, I take it.

Marshall, who watched the singalong unfold from in front of the stage, and was blocked by Cohen’s security personnel when he tried to intervene, admits that the footage of crowd members participating is not a great look.

Here’s NPR:

“It’s sad, it’s unfortunate that some people chanted back,” he said.

But he also pointed to footage showing a Jewish member of the Washington Three Percent grabbing a bullhorn and trying to drown out the performance.

Marshall said he estimates that half the crowd left when they heard the lyrics.

OK, so half the crowd was on board with injecting liberals with the “Wuhan Flu”, or chopping up journalists “like the Saudis do”.

I would say those numbers aren’t in your favour.

[sources:huffpost&npr]