Amid the fallout over his appearance on “Who is America” hosted by Sacha Baron Cohen, Georgia state lawmaker Jason Spencer has resigned effective July 31. The announcement came two days after the Republican from Georgia made several racial and homophobic remarks on the show.
Spencer, who represents Georgia’s 180th district, allegedly was pranked into believing the host was an Israeli anti-terrorism expert who was filming a training video for Israeli lawmakers on how to defend yourself if you are being attacked by a terrorist.
Spencer repeatedly used the n-word and pretended first to be an Asian tourist who took pictures under a Muslim’s burqa and later showed his acting range by pretending to be a gay man because terrorists are afraid of gay people. The now outgoing lawmaker exposed his buttocks in order to show his audience how to intimidate ISIS.
Reactions from both sides of the isle have been pouring in. Georgia Speaker of the House David Ralston called for Spencer to resign earlier this week, calling his behavior “reprehensible” and saying, “Georgia is better than this.”
Outgoing Gov. Nathan Deal chimed in via Twitter, stating: “The actions and language used by Jason Spencer are appalling and offensive. There is no excuse for this type of behavior, ever, and I am saddened and disgusted by it.”
Spencer commented on his own actions, but that only made his story more confusing. His fears stemmed from receiving death threats after his efforts to ban Muslim women from wearing burqas in public. “My fears were so heightened at that time, I was not thinking clearly nor could I appreciate what I was agreeing to when I participated in his ‘class.’ I was told I would be filmed as a ‘demonstration video’ to teach others the same skills in Israel. Sacha and his crew further lied to me, stating that I would be able to review and have final approval over any footage used.”
The fact that he was on a parody show didn’t seem to register with the lawmaker. He went after Showtime and Cohen, accusing them of exploiting his state of mind for profit and notoriety. “This media company’s deceptive and fraudulent behavior is exactly why President Donald Trump was elected,” he said in a statement last week in response to other politicians falling prey to the comedian.
This show airs every Sunday at 10 p.m. and it has various politicians provoked by their bigotry.
