In addition to portraying Sarah Palin as stupid, the comedians and Smith also described how bad her staff was. Smith asked: "...how long did it take you and how did you start?" Trudel replied: "We started Tuesday, last Tuesday, it took four days. It's our fastest one except Britney Spears, so you can put that in the same category, her staff." Audette added: "It was pretty quick, actually. Because when we pranked Paul McCartney it took us about two months...Bill Gates, a month, Britney Spears, two days, and Sarah Palin about four or five days." Trudel later observed: "Yeah, and it's pretty disturbing to see that idiot's like us can go through to a vice presidential candidate that could be eventually the most influential and the most powerful person in the world...Too stupid comedians...with a bad French accent...and go through her staff." Smith concluded: "I think you said it all."
Smith and fellow co-host’s Julie Chen and Maggie Rodriguez continually teased the segment throughout the morning. At one point, Chen wondered how Palin could not have caught on: "But then when you hear the voice, why do you believe it?" In May, Chen thought Hawaii was in the Atlantic Ocean. According to Newsweek: "The call had been routed through France, and the comedian used the name of one of Sarkozy’s top aides, which suggested the phone call was legitimate." In addition, the comedians are both french Canadians, speak French, and have natural French accents.
Here is the full transcript of the segment:
7:20AM TEASE:
HARRY SMITH: So you're Sarah Palin, you're on the campaign trail, somebody hands you the phone and says it's Nicholas Sarkozy on the phone, wants to say hello to you. So of course you take the phone.
JULIE CHEN: But then when you hear the voice, why do you believe it?
7:36AM
JULIE CHEN: Well, still ahead-
MARC-ANTOINE AUDETTE: You know my wife is a popular singer and a former top model and she's so hot in bed. She even wrote a song for you.
SARAH PALIN: Oh, my goodness, I didn't know that.
AUDETTE: Yes, in French it's called 'De Rouge A Levre Sur Un Cochon,' or if you prefer in English, 'Joe the Plumber' -- [Singing] It's his life, Joe the Plumber.
CHEN: Governor Palin got hoodwinked by a pair of pranksters. We're going to talk to them about how they got through to her.
8:00AM
AUDETTE: I just love killing those animals. Mmm, mmm, take away a life, that is so fun. I'd really love to go, as long as we don't bring Vice President Cheney.
PALIN: No, I'll be a careful shot, yes.
SMITH: Sarah Palin punked by pranksters. We'll talk to them exclusively.
8:01AM
SMITH: And the Canadian comedy duo who punked Sarah Palin. They're here live in our studio this morning. It's kind of an amazing list, also Sir Paul McCartney, right, Bill Gates, all punked by these guys. They're going to tell us how they did it.
8:09AM SEGMENT:
HARRY SMITH: Pranksters pulled a fast one, over the weekend, on vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Comedians from Canada posed as French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
[AUDIO CLIP OF PHONE CALL]
MARC-ANTOINE AUDETTE: You know, we have a lot in common because personally one of my favorite activities is to hunt, too.
SARAH PALIN: Oh, very good, we should go hunting together.
AUDETTE: Exactly, we could go try hunting by helicopter like you did. I never did that. Like we say in French, on pourrait tuer des phoques aussi.
PALIN: Well, I think we could have a lot of fun together as we're getting work done. We can kill two birds with one stone that way.
AUDETTE: I just love killing those animals. Mmm, mmm take away a life, that is so fun. I'd really love to go, as long as we don't bring Vice President Cheney.
PALIN: No, I'll be a careful shot, yes.
[END OF CLIP]
SMITH: Joining us for an exclusive interview, the duo known as the 'Masked Avengers,' Marc-Antoine Audette and Sebastien Trudel. Good morning to you both.
MARC-ANTOINE AUDETTE: Good morning.
SEBASTIEN TRUDEL: Good morning.
SMITH: So who does the Sarkozy?
AUDETTE: I'm the one. Sorry about that.
SMITH: Do you want to do it in -- you want to do the interview as Sarkozy?
AUDETTE: I could try a bit to do something like that. I know that some people on the web said it sounded a bit like Pepe Le Pew on the Looney Toons, that's kind of true, but I already have a big French accent so I'm not -- it's not an obligation for me to accentuate it, yeah.
SMITH: How did you get through, because you've done this before.
AUDETTE: Yeah.
TRUDEL: Yeah.
SMITH: We'll go through the list of people you've done it before, too. But how long did it take you and how did you start?
TRUDEL: We started Tuesday, last Tuesday, it took four days. It's our fastest one except Britney Spears, so you can put that in the same category, her staff. We called in Alaska, they transferred in her campaign bus.
SMITH: Right.
TRUDEL: And then chief of staff, I think, transferred the call to her.
AUDETTE: It was pretty quick, actually. Because when we pranked Paul McCartney it took us about two months-
SMITH: Right.
AUDETTE: Bill Gates, a month, Britney Spears, two days, and Sarah Palin about four or five days.
SMITH: Four or five days?
AUDETTE: Yeah.
SMITH: Did you get the sense when you were on the phone with her, did she have any idea what was going on?
TRUDEL: No.
AUDETTE: Absolutely not. No.
TRUDEL: She was as gullible as Britney Spears. She -- there are only two people that we pranked that never caught on that it was a joke and that we had to explain it to them at the end. Sarah Palin and Britney Spears. And Britney Spears could not ever be President of the United States but Sarah Palin could.
AUDETTE: Yeah.
TRUDEL: So it was-
AUDETTE: But they're both good looking, so-
SMITH: That-
AUDETTE: At least, at least.
SMITH: That accounts -- that does account for something.
AUDETTE: Yeah.
SMITH: Now, it -- what was your intention when you go about this? Is it just for the act of punking or are you trying to make a point?
AUDETTE: Yeah, first of all, it's to make a joke. As usual, we always want to test the sense of humor of people that have a big entourage, a lot of people around them, because most of them -- they can kind of get pretty confident because they're sure that their staff is perfect.
SMITH: Would never hand them the phone with a couple of idiots like you.
AUDETTE: Exactly!
TRUDEL: Yeah, and it's pretty disturbing to see that idiot's like us can go through to a vice presidential candidate that could be eventually the most influential and the most powerful person in the world.
SMITH: Wow.
AUDETTE: Yeah.
TRUDEL: Too stupid comedians-
AUDETTE: From Montreal-
TRUDEL: With a bad French accent-
AUDETTE: Exactly-
TRUDEL: And go through her staff-
AUDETTE: Exactly.
SMITH: I think you said it all.
TRUDEL: Yes.
AUDETTE: Yeah, thank you.
SMITH: The 'Masked Avengers,' thanks very much for being here.
TRUDEL: Thank you very much.
AUDETTE: Thanks a lot.
SMITH: Take care.
