At the famous Kennedy Center Honors in the US on Sunday night, the British actor Sacha Baron Cohen, reprising his role as Borat, stole the show by targeting former president Donald Trump, rapper Kanye West, and antisemitism. President Joe Biden and his wife Jill were laughing uncontrollably as Cohen cracked crude jokes in the witty Kazakh television journalist Borat Sagdiyev’s accent.

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Borat said to an audience including politicians and celebrities “I know the president of the US and A is here”. “Where are you, Mr. Trump?” “You don’t look so good. Where has your glorious big belly gone? And your pretty orange skin has become pale.”

Who is Borat Sagdiyev? 

The British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen created the character of Borat Margaret Sagdiyev, who first made an appearance as a supporting character on the Da Ali G Show before taking the lead role in the mockumentary film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan in 2006. Apart from being the protagonist, he is also a Kazakh television journalist. 

Sacha Baron Cohen played the part himself. Borat tries very hard to learn but is noted for being extremely racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, ableist, and incestuous. He also strongly rejects the manners and sophistication of the west. 

In the 2006 film, Kazakhstan’s Kuczek hamlet serves as the setting for the introduction of Borat Sagdiyev. He has been seen introducing his sister and his mother. He said that at 43 years old, she is the oldest person in Kuczek. 

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The character was initially created for Baron Cohen to perform in a series of quick skits on F2F on Granada Talk TV in 1996 and 1997. At the time, the character was known as Alexi Krickler.  The absurd societal stances that Borat espouses, the social taboos he breaks, and the inappropriate use of obscene language and behavior, all contribute to the popularity of the character.