Sacha Baron Cohen Targeted My Town, Proving His Absolute Disdain For Small-Town America

Most of you have probably heard about Sacha Baron Cohen’s “gotcha” show on Showtime at this point.

The entire premise is the “OBVIOUS” fact that everyday Americans, namely conservative Americans, are unhinged, white-supremacist, gun-toting idiots.

It’s little more than a classic, elitist “Look! Americans are so stupid!” gimmick – a heaping dose of the liberal condescension for working-class Americans that got Trump elected in the first place.

The latest episode targeted my new home.

My fiance and I moved to Kingman, AZ this January.  Kingman is a small high-desert town that has been hit hard by the meth and opioid epidemic ravaging much of rural America. The effects of this drug epidemic are clear, and heartbreaking.

On the other hand, Kingman has made great strides to clean up the city, revitalize its downtown, bring in tourist income from its historic Route 66 past, and become the charming little town that has so graciously welcomed me into its fold.

Sacha Baron Cohen has absolutely no regard for the struggles this town faces, or the fledgling tourist economy this town has worked so hard to build.

Sacha Baron Cohen wants YOU to know, that Kingman is RACIST.

Yes, I watched the video. It’s easy to mock. “Wow! Look at those uneducated white supremacists who don’t want an ENORMOUS MOSQUE built behind their Safeway!”

(For the record, I shop at that exact Safeway regularly. They have killer brownies.)

Yes – some regrettable things were said. There is no excuse for them.

I’d also like to point out that in a small town where I’ve already gotten to know local politicians, city councilors, prosecutors and city attorneys, judges and public defenders, members of the tourism board, the revitalization board, and many, many small business owners… I do not recognize a single face in that room.

Sacha Baron Cohen did not create a group representative of what’s going on in Kingman – and I think he knows that. Rather he offered people $150, bussed them to a conference room, and got EXACTLY what he wanted.

How were the people in the focus group vetted? I have a feeling the producers made sure they got the responses they wanted.

Again, I don’t know how he recruited this “focus group” … but I do know he got EXACTLY what he wanted… with NO regard to the repercussions this could have for a small town’s fledgling tourist economy.

and the HATE is pouring in:

Who is doing PR for Kingman, Arizona? Good luck.

*Note to self: Never go to Kingman, Arizona#WhoIsAmerica

— AB (@THE1_AB) July 23, 2018

Feeling very bad for the African-American residents of #Kingman Arizona tonight who learned (if they didn’t already know) that they are unwanted by their neighbours and are simply “tolerated” by their racist fellow citizens #WhoIsAmerica

— Jeff Hershberg (@LawyerToronto) July 23, 2018

Damn, hope I never break down in Kingman Arizona. #WhoIsAmerica⁠ ⁠ pic.twitter.com/rX9ZBh8tbv

— (ง’̀-‘́)ง (@UnicornTruffles) July 23, 2018

That Kingman, Arizona segment is the reason I feel that a large portion of the country is irredeemable, and even dare I say…deplorable.

— Darren (@darren04) July 23, 2018

So is Kingman Arizona the most racist town in America? #WhoIsAmerica

— Ayatollah Rodriguez (@NoMoneyMitch_) July 23, 2018

Sacha Baron Cohen S1 E2, “Who is America?” is epic. Oh my God. The Kingman, Arizona segment at the end is pretty much a paradigm of the Trumpster mind. It was amazing to watch.

— Craig Dawkins (@CADawkins) July 23, 2018

Kingman, Arizona. Why I can’t stand hateful, poorly educated rural America

— KDRuinedTheNBA (@cbj2k19Champs) July 23, 2018

Jesus fucking Christ these people in the focus group of the town #Kingman #Arizona in #WhoIsAmerica are racist as fuck. “I’m racist against Muslims!” “This town is lucky to have black people in it.”

— Carlos F. Herrera (@hejurbets) July 23, 2018

Good showing, #KingmanArizona . Thank you for showing the world how fucking backward and racist this state is on WHO IS AMERICA. Definitely appreciated. Fucking bigots. “We tolerate the black people here, but we don’t want them either.” Fuck all of you. #WhoIsAmerica

— Quinn Masters (@AEnthraller) July 23, 2018

Well, now I know that Kingman, Arizona is a racist piece of shit town.

— Ray Villa (@_KingstonEstate) July 23, 2018

So the City of Kingman has responded with a lengthy Facebook post:

It reads:

City Of Kingman, Arizona Responds To Baiting & Big Mistakes By Sacha Baron Cohen’s Very Lowly Rated Who Is America?

“Every city has resident voices that challenge respect and dignity for others. They are wrong and unfortunate. That was no exception on Sunday’s ‘Who Is America?’ show on Showtime in which an actor baited purported residents to vociferously oppose a fictitious, supersized mosque in our city.

Another in the audience also stated negative feelings towards African-Americans. No matter the instigation or that numerous ‘focus group’ participants don’t even live in Kingman, the show’s characterization in the words of one member of our Kingman City Council ‘broke her heart.’ Why? Because our community has made great strides to erase previous perceptions. We do have a mosque. We do have a robust Latino community. We do welcome tourists from all over the world, especially more and more from Asia fascinated by our Route 66 history. We do have African-Americans applying for leadership positions with the city. This is the Kingman of today, not of yesterday.

It might be easy to laugh off what took place Sunday night on a show with very low ratings that tries to make everyone look bad. After all, New York City rejected a mosque not too many years ago and Scottsdale, Arizona once had a big debate over a Jewish Community Center.

But shrugging this off is not going to be us. We’re going to use this opportunity to keep moving our community forward with the help of many community stakeholders including the Kingman Interfaith Council. And while we’ve been making progress the comments in the show, fairly or unfairly, show that we still have more work to do.

So here are additional steps we are going to be taking as ours is a community like too many others in America that still encounter such issues. For the first time our City Manager will be bringing to the City Council a resolution in support of National Hispanic Heritage Month, beginning on September 15th, in honor of our significant Latino community.

We intend to invite Phoenix Pastor Warren Stewart to help us honor Martin Luther King Junior Day in January. Stewart admirably and courageously led the fight for the State of Arizona to honor the fallen civil rights leader. We also plan to work with our Interfaith Council to develop the community’s first Diversity Commission that will be charged with expanding what our city and community does for people of all types and persuasions that have contributed, and will contribute, to this great country.

This is the Kingman of today, and will be the one of tomorrow,” -City of Kingman, Arizona.

People were NOT happy.

He said it himself. People were PAID and bussed to the “focus group.”

Anyone who thought that would be enough for the SJW hoard doesn’t know what we’re dealing with here:

AAAND here we go.

This chick lives in Fowlerville, Michigan. I’d bet you the change in my pocket she’s NEVER been to Kingman. But she obviously knows ALL about how terribly racist we are.

Is there any question this dude would have said this about our town ANYWAY?

At the end of the day, I love my small town.

I know that the Kingmanites working their butts off to make this a great place to work, live, and visit will be irked by this, but not defeated.

Sacha Baron Cohen says he wants to show you “America,” but what he has really revealed is himself. He is a careless, race-baiting man with little care of how his stunt could affect an entire community.

He and his cronies may be laughing, but believe me, we’ll have the last laugh as Americans continue to reject the liberal hatred that would purposely sabotage real American’s livelihoods for a segment on a failing show.