It likely won’t last long as a freshman coming into the Georgia House, but in the meantime, while he’s still out of the spotlight in his home district in Woodbine, Steven Sainz might just be the most popular man in the legislature. The reason? The representative he defeated in a primary back in May, Rep. Jason Spencer (R-180 Woodbine), was on a show called “Who is America?” on Sunday. It did not go well.
The show is the brainchild of provocateur filmmaker and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen – of Borat and Talladega Nights fame. Cohen is the “host” of the show, playing a number of characters opposite real-life political figures and celebrities – such as Spencer in this case. Cohen’s characters are fake caricatures. But his co-stars don’t know that.
Spencer was told he was partaking in a terrorism response training video and was involved in a number of scenarios. Cohen was in character as Erran Morad, an ex-Mossad agent who is now involved in terrorism response training. It all started out innocent enough – discussing the dangers of terrorism and the importance of elected officials to be prepared for such scenarios.
It quickly devolved into a disaster of a segment for Spencer who proceeded to engage in all sorts of nonsense, directed by “Morad” as part of the training exercise. Jumping around with his pants down, using a bizarre and racist Chinese accent, and saying R-rated things about Muslim immigrants is just a sample of the bizarre segment. The N-word was repeated a number of times.
In Spencer’s mind at the time, it was all part of a training video – which perhaps sheds more light on Spencer’s judgment than his ease at using racist language.
The reaction was swift on Monday after the segment aired.
“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,” said Governor Nathan Deal.
Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle called for his resignation and noted the results of the election earlier this year. “Jason Spencer is a disgrace to Georgia and should resign his elected office immediately. While I’m glad he never supported our campaign and actually actively opposed us, I think it speaks to the judgment of our voters that he was overwhelmingly defeated earlier this year.”
Brian Kemp, who had been endorsed by Spencer earlier this year, wasted no time with a denunciation as well. Shortly before 1:00 a.m. on Monday, Kemp issued a statement condemning his behavior and removing his endorsement from their list. “Rep. Spencer’s words and behavior are hurtful, insensitive, and completely unacceptable. At the very least, he should issue a public apology for this shameful incident,” said Kemp.
Spencer had issued a statement last week claiming he had been deceived by the show and distancing himself from his behavior. He has so far resisted calls to resign, saying he will finish out his last few months in office.
In the meantime, the legislature is probably eagerly awaiting the arrival of Mr. Sainz.
