Sacha Baron Cohen's Who Is America? gets Roy Moore to sweat an ersatz pedophile-detection wand

Sacha Baron Cohen confronts Roy Moore
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Showtime)

Roy Moore, the former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice and failed Republican Senate candidate, already spoiled the ending of his appearance on Sacha Baron Cohen's new Showtime series Who Is America? — Moore said in a statement earlier this month that he'd walked out of a sit-down with the British comedian and might sue Showtime if it broadcast the "defamatory" interview "to defend my honor and character against vicious false political attacks by liberals like Cohen." But until Sunday night, it wasn't clear what prompted Moore's embarrassment and threats of legal action. It turns out it was being slyly accused of having a scientifically verified case of pedophilia.

On Sunday night's show, Cohen — disguised as Gen. Erran Morad, an "anti-terror expert" with a thick Israeli accent — tells Moore that the Israeli military has developed a pedophile-detection wand now used at Israel schools. "It turns out that sex offenders, and particularly pedophiles, secrete an enzyme, 4dDHT, which is actually detectable — it is three times the level of non-perverts," Cohen told Moore, before bringing out the wand. You can watch the predictable results below, plus Cohen's not-quite-subtle ribbing of Moore about Alabama's history of racism. All things considered, Moore is pretty polite while the cameras are rolling. Peter Weber

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.