Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Jacob Stolworthy

Who Is America: Sheriff Joe Arpaio says his controversial appearance was 'a bad mistake'

Former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio has described his appearance on Who Is America? as “a bad mistake.”

Sacha Baron Cohen introduced a brand new character in the fourth instalment of his comedy series which continues to dupe political figures into performing controversial acts.

He targeted Arpaio as eccentric Finnish YouTuber OMGWhizzBoyOMG and got the Republican Senate candidate debate the benefit of guns with a toy doughnut and say he'd accept oral sex from Donald Trump.

“Quite frankly, I made a bad mistake security-wise,” Arpaio told the Washington Examiner about the interview which took place in August 2017. “They said, ‘we’re doing a feature for Showtime — the top 20 people in the United States.’ It looked pretty nice [that] I made the top people.”

He added: “They take me to a warehouse type-thing and they had a couple of security guys. I’m by myself in a warehouse, and I was a little suspicious. They didn’t have a green room. It was just a warehouse.”

Arpaio was convinced his interviewer was immensely popular in Finland.

Cohen's character - who revealed he bought 43 guns in preparation for the “upcoming race war” - was told by Arpaio that Trump would be a fan of his ideas.

Arpaio became aware he was duped by the Borat funnyman following Sarah Palin's war of words against her appearance which is yet to be televised.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.