Borat returned to save America’s elections

Countless celebrities have spoken out about the midterm elections but the most worldly celebrity of all, Borat, made a triumphant return to the spotlight on election day.

Late night hosts have been hammering away at the importance of election day for months now, if not years. For anyone unaware of the magnitude of Nov. 6 in American politics, celebrities have been out in full force to advocate for issues, campaign for candidates, and promote voter turnout. Which is why Borat showing up on Jimmy Kimmel Live! seems like the grand finale.

It’s possible that late night shows were running out of steam when it came to election coverage prior to the actual election day. There are only so many times they can encourage the viewers to vote while parodying the president or poking fun at candidates. In response, they’ve had to find new ways to find laughs.

This led to calling in some favors from friends outside of the late night world. First we had Mike Myers’ reprising his role of Dr. Evil for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.  Myers has done this before so it wasn’t too big of a surprise to have him back ahead of Congressional elections. Then there was Triumph the Insult Comic Dog on The Late Show once again. But what was a surprise was Sacha Baron Cohen dusting off the mustache for Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Through Borat, Cohen is able to get people to reveal their own ignorance in a hilarious way. It’s not too often we hear President Trump called a “humanitarian.” But with Borat knocking on a random door in Los Angeles, we get just that all because the president has fed the immigrant children at border “camps.” It’s what made Cohen’s Who Is America series so spectacular.

Whether you call it election fatigue or the payoff of months and months of build up, it was time for something like this. It’s refreshing to see Borat being used as a way in to the political coverage. Yes, there were jokes about Russia and racism. But Borat walking out of a stranger’s bathroom in just a towel is the type of comedy-first approach that late night can hopefully return to now that the election is over.