LOS ANGELES • A politician from the American state of Georgia resigned after he yelled racial slurs and dropped his trousers - after he was told that such an act would intimidate terrorists.

Mr Jason Spencer, 43, was captured doing this when he appeared on Showtime programme Who Is America?, in which British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen adopts different personas and pranks politicians, pop-culture figures and others into saying outrageous things.

On Monday, Showtime president David Nevins said the channel had taken a "leap of faith" with the series, but added that the risk of broadcasting the satirical series had paid off and that he hoped there would be more.

"It has generated a lot of controversy and a lot of new sign-ups," he added. He said the audience for the seven-episode series had "grown dramatically" over the first month, but did not provide details.

The series, in which a disguised Cohen interviews subjects who do not realise they are dealing with the comedian, has also featured a politician supporting the idea of arming children as young as three to cope with school shootings.

REUTERS