'Who is America?': Republican faces calls to resign after screaming N-word on Sacha Baron Cohen’s show

Top republicans in Georgia are considering filing an ethics complaint against an elected member of their own party after he was filmed repeatedly shouting the N-word and exposing his buttocks on comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s new television show.

In the footage, which aired Sunday in the latest episode of Who Is America?, Georgia state Representative Jason Spencer — who has also been called upon to resign by those same republicans considering the complaint — is seen participating in an “anti-terrorism video” that Cohen — dressed up as Israeli military expert Erran Morad — is creating.

Cohen tells Mr Spencer that there is just one word forbidden word in America, the “N-word”, and tells him to quickly draw attention to a terrorist during an exercise by yelling the obscenity.

Mr Spencer then repeatedly yells the racist abuse during the exercise before Cohen stops him and tells him that he has the wrong N-word, and that the one Mr Spencer was using is “disgusting”.

Later in the episode, Mr Spencer drops his trousers and pushes his buttocks towards Cohen in an attempt to ward off terrorism while saying "USA motherf*****" repeatedly.

The airing of the footage has been met with condemnation of Mr Spencer from the public and even Georgia Speaker of the House David Ralston, who released a statement calling for his resignation.

“The actions and language used on this video are reprehensible. Representative Spencer has disgraced himself and should resign immediately,” Mr Ralston said. “Georgia is better than this.”

A follow up email from Mr Ralston's office indicated that top politicians in the state are considering the ethics complaint, and that any such complaint would need to follow normal processes.

Mr Spencer’s office did not respond to a request for comment, but the republican had previously responded to the video by appearing to equivocate Cohen’s entertainment and comedy show with the news media. Mr Spencer lost this year's May primary, but his term in office does not end until after the November election when his replacement is picked by the voters of Georgia. Mr Spencer did apologise for the episode, but has refused to stand down before the end of his term.

“They exploited my state of mind for profit and notoriety,” Mr Spencer told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “This media company’s deceptive and fraudulent behaviour is exactly why President Donald Trump was elected”.

Other Georgia officials piled on with criticism, including Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, who tweeted: "There is no excuse for this type of behaviour, ever, and I am saddened and disgusted by it."

The Islamic Council on American-Islamic Relations has also called for Mr Spencer's resignation.

"The ignorance and malice behind Islamophobia has led Mr Spencer to not only pursue bad policy, but engage in humiliating and hateful behaviour unbecoming of anyone — especially a state legislator," Edward Ahmed Mitchell, the director of that group's Georgia chapter, said, according to the Associated Press.

Cohen’s show, which premiered earlier this month, has taken on several other republican officials already as well.

During a previous episode, Cohen managed to convince several republicans to endorse a made up program to give toddlers firearms to keep themselves safe at school and in public.

In another segment, former Vice President Dick Cheney is seen signing a “waterboard kit”, referring to the interrogation technique previously employed by the US military that has been condemned by some as torture.