The former Alaska governor had called the comedian ‘evil, exploitative and sick’ after unwittingly featuring in Baron Cohen’s new show – along with the disgraced Alabama Senate candidate

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A character of Sacha Baron Cohen’s has responded to Sarah Palin’s claim that she was exploited, calling it “FAKE NEWS”.

The former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate called the comedian “evil, exploitative and sick” in a Facebook post on 10 July after he duped her into an interview for his new show Who Is America?

Will Sacha Baron Cohen's undercover series be the TV event of the year? Read more

In response, Baron Cohen has posted a letter on Twitter as a new, previously unrevealed character, Billy Wayne Ruddick Jr, PhD, who runs the site Truthbrary.org.

Palin had claimed Baron Cohen disguised himself as a “disabled US veteran” during the interview before she walked out.

“I did NOT say I was a War Vet,” the letter reads. “I was in the service – not military, but United Parcel and I only fought for my country once – when I shot a Mexican who came onto my property.”

The letter goes on to praise Palin for “TELLING THE TRUTH about Obama’s birth certificate and the location of Russia” before claiming that she had “been hit by a bullshit grenade” and was “bleeding FAKE NEWS”.

It arrives after a source told People that Palin decided to end the interview after a question about a “government funded sex-change operation for Chelsea Clinton”.

The site Truthbrary.org features a variety of articles including titles such as Why Do Liberals Despise The West? and Hibernating Alien Discovered Inside Secret Chamber In The Great Pyramid.

The disgraced US Senate candidate Roy Moore has also released a statement revealing that he too was convinced to appear on the show, saying that he was embarrassed and humiliated by Baron Cohen.

“I don’t need Sacha Cohen to tell me who America is, but I can tell him that America is a proud Nation which sprang from humble beginnings and a strong belief in God, virtue, and morality,” he said in a statement. “As an American, I would never hide my identity and deceive others only to mock and ridicule them as this Showtime series is designed to do. America is not only about being proud but about being brave and standing for what we believe.”

Moore, who was accused of sexual misconduct by nine women, also complained that Baron Cohen was part of a string of “vicious false political attacks” and that his art is “trickery, deception, and dishonesty”.

The conservative pundit and ex-congressman Joe Walsh has revealed on Twitter that he was also duped into an interview with Baron Cohen for the show after being told that Steven Spielberg and Rupert Murdoch also took part.

“Dressing up as a wounded veteran is absolutely stolen valor, his tactics are disgusting,” he tweeted. “I totally get @SachaBaronCohen’s gig. He’s a comedian, and he can be funny, but mocking a disabled veteran to spoof @SarahPalinUSA is a serious matter. I am just telling you what I encountered – it was much of the same she experienced.”

In a previously released clip, Baron Cohen had Dick Cheney sign a “waterboard kit” while a teaser suggested a variety of characters used in the upcoming series which has been in development for over a year.

Who Is America? begins on Showtime in the US and Stan in Australia on Sunday, and on Channel 4 in the UK on Monday.