Rome News-Tribune

Lawmaker uses racial slur, drops pants on TV

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ATLANTA — A Georgia lawmaker is the latest public figure caught with his pants down on provocateu­r Sacha Baron Cohen's new cable TV series, this time literally, as the state legislator exposes his bottom, speaks with a mock Asian accent and yells a racial slur all in the name of fighting terrorism.

In Sunday night's broadcast of Cohen's Showtime series "Who Is America?" Cohen poses as an Israeli military expert who persuades Republican Rep. Jason Spencer to take part in several outlandish exercises. The lawmaker is told they're making a counterter­rorism video.

Spencer repeatedly shouts a racial slur for black people after Cohen tells him the tactic is useful for drawing bystanders' attention to an unfolding attack.

He also drops his pants, then his underwear, before backing his exposed rear end toward Cohen while shouting "USA!" and "America!" Cohen told Spencer the move would incite fear in homophobic jihadists. The segment also shows Spencer speaking with a mock Asian accent while pretending to use a selfie-stick to surreptiti­ously insert a camera phone under a Muslim woman's burqa.

Spencer's on-camera conduct horrified fellow Republican­s in Georgia. State House Speaker David Ralston said Spencer "disgraced himself and should resign immediatel­y," The Atlanta Journal-Constituti­on reported.

GOP Gov. Nathan Deal said in a tweet: "There is no excuse for this type of behavior, ever, and I am saddened and disgusted by it."

Regardless, there won't be any reckoning for Spencer at the ballot box this year. A Republican challenger already defeated the lawmaker in Georgia's May 22 primary.

 ?? Atlanta Journal-Constituti­on-Alyssa Pointer ?? Rep. Jason Spencer of Woodbine speaks at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta. Spencer is seen using racial slurs and dropping his pants in an episode of Sacha Baron Cohen’s Showtime series “Who Is America?”/
Atlanta Journal-Constituti­on-Alyssa Pointer Rep. Jason Spencer of Woodbine speaks at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta. Spencer is seen using racial slurs and dropping his pants in an episode of Sacha Baron Cohen’s Showtime series “Who Is America?”/

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