Project Veritas should pay attention. James O’Keefe keeps setting up these pathetic stings that only succeed because his gullible right-wing wants to believe, but Sacha Baron Cohen goes extreme and sets up these unbelievable scenarios that we can’t believe anyone would fall for, and we all say “NO!” when some idiot actually falls for them. The idiot this time is Rudy Giuliani, a big fish in the Trump circle of friends.
So apparently Sacha Baron Cohen is playing his character Borat, which is the first thing that had me shaking my head. Really? Doesn’t everyone recognize him yet? Isn’t the Eastern European yokel schtick all played out? I guess not, since Giuliani got played, falling for Borat pretending to be a Kazhakh diplomat bringing a bribe to the Trump campaign — a bribe which happens to be the opportunity to have sex with his 15 year old daughter. I would have told him to take a hike at the word “bribe”, and would have called the cops when he offered me a child.
In the film, released on Friday, the former New York mayor and current personal attorney to Donald Trump is seen reaching into his trousers and apparently touching his genitals while reclining on a bed in the presence of the actor playing Borat’s daughter, who is posing as a TV journalist.
Following an obsequious interview for a fake conservative news programme, the pair retreat at her suggestion for a drink to the bedroom of a hotel suite, which is rigged with concealed cameras.
After she removes his microphone, Giuliani, 76, can be seen lying back on the bed, fiddling with his untucked shirt and reaching into his trousers. They are then interrupted by Borat who runs in and says: “She’s 15. She’s too old for you.”
Guiliani has excuses — he was just tucking in his shirt! — but seriously, he’s fallen for a Borat skit, willingly went into a young woman’s bedroom, and flopped down on the bed. Give up.
Of course, he’s a Republican, so there will be no consequences. Rudy will still be Trump’s incompetent consigliere, he will still get invited on CNN and Fox to rave, no one will care.
Lets all just take a deep breath and thank whatever gods and goddesses we care to believe in that we didn’t have to see Rudy’s “O” face. Not even Cthulhu could be that cruel.
Could we have a content warning on that picture please? It’s always far too early in the morning for Nosferatu porn.
Yes this is grotesque but at the time, Ghouliani didn’t think she was underage, just to be fair. She was playing a reporter. Also, Borat had yet to appear in the scene, he burst in at this point. Still, he was obviously thinking he was about to cheat on his wife. He claims he was just tucking in his shirt, although it certainly doesn’t look like it.
Cohen should have waited another minute or two. I’m sure the footage would get even more damning to Ghouliani.
That just shows what a virile, go-getter our Prezident has on his staff. /s
#4: That’s why I think it probably was getting ugly. Cohen wouldn’t have burst in at that point if he didn’t think he needed to protect his young co-star, it seems to me.
Well, what’s the aphorism–politics exists so ugly men can get laid.
Though personally I’ve found humor and basic human decency to be more effective, I guess that isn’t an option for Rethugs.
Well, Rudy certainly is a strange fellow in a bed.
The funniest thing is when you remember that Giuliani is or was the ‘cybersecurity czar’.
Giuliani’s marital history
Wait for the standard response: “I knew what was going on and was just playing to lead Cohen on! Hahaha!” As one does.
Just another vile human that lets his vanity ruin everything inside and outside of him.
Well, Jeffery Toobin should thank Ghouliani for knocking him off the chatter pages.
Marcus Ranum @ 11
No need to wait.
This reminds me of something that happened during the Roy Moore campaign a few years ago. I went to the corner store around lunch time and the place was full of teenagers from the high school a couple blocks away. I couldn’t help but think “How is Moore into this? They’re kids. Ewwww!”.
I like the part where he claims he wasn’t fooled by admitting he didn’t realize it was Cohen until after the fact. I think he meant to say that he wasn’t fooled into having sex with Cohen in drag, despite not knowing it was Cohen until later.
However you look at it, his excuse is incomprehensible. He expects that everyone thought Cohen was passable as a woman, so his ability to see that he was actually a hairy transvestite makes him very wily smarty smart guy? Or does he think there’s some window of time where you’re “not fooled” if you fall for a ruse but realize it yourself?
Trump is getting the attorney he deserves, at any rate.
So, PZ mischaracterizes an article/event because it meets our narrative, thinks there is something wrong with a man going to a consenting woman’s hotel room and should be punished because he is old. Got it.
Proving that merely looking ilke Nosferatu does not make you badass.
Wow, that’s weird, one does not often see a Trumpist in here. Are you lost, little guy?
because of the release of the movie about the Chicago 7 trial I have been reminded of what was going on in those times. Assassinations, demonstrations, police violence, riots burning down parts of cities, Tricky Dick and Watergate break-in. not to forget the Vietnam war
It is hard to believe we still have to deal with this kind of shit and now from a political party with at least half of their elected officials are a bunch of posers just out for the gravy train and will cheat any way they can to get it.
uncle frogy
abbycadabra, assuming you are talking to me, I have my ballot in front of me with Biden/Harris selected. In fact, I voted straight “Prefers Democratic Party” with the exception of our Secretary of State, Kim Wyman, who I think does a pretty good job.
@17 marner
So, PZ mischaracterizes an article/event
You’re going to have to explain that one. If you can find a perspective where he doesn’t look super pervy, I’d be interested to hear it. Maybe you haven’t had a lot of sexual relationships, but getting to third base with yourself before you’ve even kissed isn’t normal human courtship behavior. It’s pretty much the same thing that brought down Louis CK.
@17
Failing to recognize Sacha Baron Cohen doing Borat suggests a level of cluelessness that’s unacceptable in anyone entrusted with the responsibility associated with the jobs Giuliani used to have like prosecutor and mayor. But assuming he took “Borat” at face value, it suggests a willingness and likely habit of doing business with some shady characters, which is consistent with what I’ve read. Did he believe he was doing anything illegal? No idea, but it’s not a good look.
FWIW, I also wouldn’t want to be caught masturbating over Zoom like Jeffrey Toobin. It’s not that I see it as a moral issue, assuming the exposure was accidental, but it’s still pretty creepy and also shows unacceptable carelessness around the communication devices we all have to live with.
@22
Sure! First, I don’t really want to get into judging “super pervy” between consenting adults. I am not sure about the hand part, but leaning back to tuck in your shirt as Rudy describes in the linked article sounds reasonable. Also, we really do not know what has happened prior to that do we? And editing. Leaping straight for Louis CK seems a little excessive. Its not like he pulled out his dick. However, the part that I think is egregious is
There is nothing in evidence to support that this.
@23
What do you mean by taking Borat at face value? Based on current information it appears the first Rudy saw him was when he was acting as a sound man during the media interview. The next is when he burst into the hotel room.
@24
There is nothing in evidence to support that this.
To employ a typical Trumpian technique: We don’t know it didn’t happen that way either. This is not a court of law, it’s a court of public opinion. The burden of proof at this point will be on Rudy AND Cohen. Also, pretty sure this just made Borat 2 the highest grossing (and possibly grossest) movie of 2020. We’ll have to find out tomorrow I guess.
Pssst. You may not know this, but you’re allowed to form judgments. We really don’t have thought crimes.
This judgment can even come into play in terms of employment. Toobin is on leave roughly for this reason, not as far as I know being investigated for breaking any laws. It’s looks like the New Yorker is saying “Yeccch, we don’t want to be associated with this.”
Obviously, people can disagree with your judgments and often will. They’re allowed too.
@25 I may be missing some context then. But it seems like the burden of proof is on Giuliani. Running it through my own mind, I can’t come up with any really good way I would have ever wound up in that situation. If I was a public figure, I’d probably be cautious to the point of being paranoid.
It’s sort of like Jerry Falwell Jr.’s explanation of the yacht photo: it was “black water” and he had to unzip because “his pants didn’t fit.” I wouldn’t have a problem with nearly anyone saying “I was drinking rum and cokes and goofing around with my wife’s assistant who’s pregnant and we both thought this was funny.” If it’s the head of Liberty University though, it’s a little off-brand and all the spin in the world won’t save it.
Maybe Giuliani has a really good explanation for how he got in that situation, but let’s hear it then.
#26
Well we do have people who have actually watched the film and none of them are suggesting that Giuliani in any way agreed to or even listened to a bribe involving sex with a 15 year old. That is evidence. And really, Ray? You are better than that.
@27
Thanks for letting me know! Gosh, I was pretty worried there for a minute.
But, for ME, consenting adults within their own 4 walls = don’t care.
@28
Look. I hate Trump. I… Hmmm. Nor sure if I hate or merely strongly dislike/detest Giuliani. Have to reflect on that. But the old adult and the young adult possibly getting kinky does not bother me. Fine it bothers you. There are two things that do really bother me.
1) Accusing someone of being open to taking someone’s child as a bribe without any strong evidence suggesting that it might be true. My best guess is that PZ was in a hurry and it sounded right cause Giuliani.
2) The whole thing is a distraction from what Giuliani (reportedly) said in the fake interview that “China manufactured the virus” and “deliberately spread” it around the world. https://reason.com/2020/10/22/the-rudy-giuliani-scene-in-the-new-borat-movie-isnt-what-you-think/
@31
You may be right, but let Giuliani’s friends advocate on his behalf. I’m not going to.
And I agree that China-bashing is enough reason to hate him if I didn’t have any others. It’s still funny to see him caught in a compromising position, and someone with better judgment would have avoided it. So hahahahahaha what creepy guy, and I’m glad he’s been publicly humiliated. What part of this is difficult to understand?
And really, Ray? You are better than that.
Am I? Four years of DJT has made me a little crazy and my moral compass is a bit skewed these days. They don’t fight fair so why should I?
Getting ready for the debate I think that CNN needs a Toobin jack cam and Fox a Giuliani response. Crossfire reimagined.
Only in 2020 we get such a clusterthingy of over the top kinda similar events. That’s just creepy weird. WTF?
Upthread the Nosferatu porn comment gave me a hernia. Damn you cartomancer!
The point isn’t that the woman is 15, nor that he did or did not know her age. In fact, from the looks of her she’s older than 15, and Borat just says she’s 15. He also says that she’s is daughter, which probably isn’t true either. Nor does it matter that the possible soirée was consensual or not. Clearly she was leading him to believe that something was about to happen to make him a happy boy and he was going right along because he’s a sleazy git. And it doesn’t really matter whether Giuliani was leaning back to tuck in his shirt or get himself revved for a different sort of tuck, which at 76 or so might take a little preparation. The point is that Mister Smarty got conned. Just like he’s trying to con the American people with phony stories about Hunter Biden’s hard disk. And perhaps like he was conned by Russians in Ukraine, although I don’t believe for a minute that he didn’t know he was working with Russian intelligence operatives to concoct something to smear Hunter Biden as a proxy for Joe.
From my perspective he’s fully earned any fallout to his personal reputation that comes to him from this. I don’t hate the man, he’s just icky. And his superciliousness makes me angry.
marner:
<snicker>
The best reaction was from The Onion as usual. https://politics.theonion.com/rudy-giuliani-releases-video-of-himself-masturbating-to-1845453299