Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Senate campaign said Monday that it was not troubled at his duping by comedian Sacha Baron Cohen into discussing gun control with a Shopkins character known as D'lish Donut.
"For all the joyless buzzkills, it's obvious Joe couldn't fully understand Borat," Communications Director Jennifer Lawrence said in a statement posted on Twitter. "That's why they had to subtitle Borat's character.
"Otherwise, people wouldn't be able to fully understand the questions, like Sheriff Arpaio couldn't fully understand him when it was filmed.
"We're not mad about it," Lawrence added. "It's comedy."
Dustin Stockton, the campaign's senior strategist, said: "If I'm ever pranked by Borat, I hope I hold up as well as Sheriff Joe Arpaio did.
"Today, we're going to find out who has a sense of humor."
Cohen interviewed Arpaio, 86, in a segment that aired on Sunday as part of his "Who Is America?" series on Showtime.
Disguised as a Finnish YouTube star, Cohen, according to news reports, unboxed Shopkins toys and persuaded Arpaio to discuss gun control and President Donald Trump.
Trump pardoned Arpaio last year after a conviction on contempt of court charges based on allegations that he had ordered his deputies to racially profile Hispanics in Arizona.
Arpaio — known as the "toughest sheriff in America" — told Breitbart News last month that he had been tricked into the Cohen interview.
Others who had been pranked by Cohen include former Vice President Dick Cheney, 2012 Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin and Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders.
In Sunday's interview, Cohen's character asks Arpaio to explain "what Communists are trying to do to stop people having guns" as he unboxes the Shopkins figurines.
"Well, that’s a big issue," Arpaio said. "I will say, over and over again, guns don’t kill, people kill."
The YouTube character then pulls out a Shopkins, identified as D'lish Donut, telling Arpaio that it was "anti-guns."
"I think all the guns should be given back," Cohen said in a Shopkins voice.
"Delicious Donut, you have to understand that you have to follow the Constitution and the law and allow people to have guns," Arpaio said.
"But I want the guns to be taken back because they are dangerous," the Shopkins responded.
"The bad guys are going to get their guns," Arpaio said. "It’s gonna kill you.
"I'm hoping that somebody else in there has a gun and will shoot that person before he shoots you."
Cohen also asked Arpaio about his relationship with Trump, drawing him into an off-color discussion of his loyalty to the president.
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