WATCH: GOP Lawmakers Push Arming Toddlers In Sacha Baron-Cohen Show

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Current and former Republican lawmakers endorsed a fake program to train and arm children as young as four years old, part of comedian Sacha Baron-Cohen’s new Showtime series.

An abbreviated clip from the show posted to Twitter by musician and writer Mikel Joellett Saturday night, and later posted in full by Showtime Sunday, showed Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) reading an endorsement of something called the “Kinderguardians Program” while looking into the camera.

“We in America would be wise to implement it,” Lott says. “It’s something that we should think about, America, about putting guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens — good guys — whether they be teachers, or whether they actually be talented children or highly trained preschoolers.”

Current Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) then posits that “young people trained and understand [sic] how to defend themselves” would make schools “safer.”

“A three-year-old cannot defend itself from a assault rifle by throwing a Hello Kitty pencil case at it,” Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) says, seemingly also reading from a prepared text.

Former congressman Joe Walsh (R-IL) makes an appearance, advertising that the program would be available to “specially selected children from 12 to four years old,” and would provide training in “pistols, rifles, semi-automatics, and a rudimentary knowledge of mortars.”

“In less than a month — less than a month! — a first grader can become a First Grenader,” Walsh says.

Larry Pratt, the executive director emeritus of Gun Owners of America, adds that “toddlers are pure, uncorrupted by fake news and homosexuality.”

Baron-Cohen’s show, “Who Is America?” will premier Sunday and run for seven episodes, Reuters reported.

Other politicians not shown in the Showtime clip, including former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, former Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore and former Maricopa County Sheriff (and presidential pardon recipient) Joe Arpaio, all report having been duped by Baron-Cohen.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney is shown in a trailer for the show responding affirmatively when a disguised Baron-Cohen asks, “Is it possible to sign my waterboard?”

Watch below via Showtime:

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: