Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen used a fake “pedophile detector” to goad accused child molester Roy Moore during Sunday’s night episode of his show Who Is America?
Moore, whose Alabama Senate candidacy was derailed in October after he was credibly accused of molesting a 14-year-old girl, ends the interview soon after Cohen brandishes “the latest Israeli gadget”: a wand that supposedly beeps when it detects a pedophile.
“It’s very simple to use,” says Cohen, impersonating a former Israeli intelligence officer. “You just switch it on, and because neither of us are sex offenders, it makes absolutely nothing.”
The wand then beeps when passed over Moore’s torso.
“It must be faulty. It’s malfunctioning,” Cohen says. “Is this your jacket? Did you lend this jacket to somebody else?”
“No,” Moore answered. “I’ve been married for 33 [years]. I’ve never been accused of such things.”
Moore, who received President Trump’s endorsement even after nine women accused him of preying on them as teenagers, released a statement condemning Cohen’s trickery earlier this month.
“I did not know Sacha Cohen or that a Showtime TV series was being planned to embarrass, humiliate, and mock not only Israel, but also religious conservatives such as Sarah Palin, Joe Walsh, and Dick Cheney,” said Moore, who agreed to the interview after receiving an invitation for an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. to “receive an award for my strong support of Israel.”
Cohen, known for the hit comedy Borat, has made headlines in recent weeks for ensnaring a host of prominent political figures in embarrassing interviews set up under false pretenses. Georgia state representative Jason Spencer was forced to resign last week following the release of his appearance on Cohen’s show, during which he can be seen brandishing his bare buttock and shouting racial slurs at Cohen’s prompting. Former Vice President Dick Cheney signed a “waterboard kit” on the program, and a number of other Republican politicians endorsed a program to arm three- and four-year-old children to prevent school shootings.