Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko's announcement on Tuesday, April 14 that small Hennessy bottles would be included in food packs donated to city residents has continued to attract unprecedented attention from around the world, with US comedian Shuler King the latest to hop on the bandwagon.
In a widely circulated video, King emphatically endorsed Sonko's message gesture, while at the same time, Sonko's phrase 'throat sanitizer' in reference to the donated alcohol inspired a global trend of people captioning pictures of their own drinks as 'throat sanitizer'.
King boasts of millions of views on his YouTube page and more than 1 million followers on Facebook and over 400,000 followers on Instagram.
Before the national government banned pronounced itself on the distribution of food donations during the Covid-19 pandemic, Sonko had begun issuing relief packs with essential items for households including maize and wheat flour, diapers, cooking oil, bars of soap, as well as small bottles of cognac.
In the briefing that has since gone viral, Sonko had argued that the donated alcohol would serve to 'sanitize the throat', further falsely claiming that World Health Organization (WHO) research showed alcohol plays a major role in killing the Coronavirus.
In his comedic take, King advised Sonko to demand to have his donations of alcohol returned since people were being 'ungrateful'.
He also urged Kenyans to forgive Sonko if he was involved in corruption as alleged by some, stating that his gesture to include the bottles in the packs was proof of his magnanimity.
"I'm voting for him, I don't care, I don't gotta live there. I'll do an absentee vote from here to Kenya, or I'll go there and vote for him, I'm voting.
"If he did some corrupt stuff you all need to consider forgiving this man, I'm serious. Mike, I don't know too much about you, but if you giving out free liquor, you're alright in my books.
"People stuck at the house, you risking their lives trying to run out to the liquor store. Under fire? Under fire for what!?" King joked.
Acknowledging that Sonko's assertion that the alcohol could kill the Coronavirus was false, King reiterated the fact that the alcohol donated was expensive and not a cheap brand.
Sonko re-posted the video on his account, offering to send King one of the packages to his address as he had enjoyed the video.
"You have made my morning Shuler King. Let me know where you live I will send your package, Sonko wrote.
Watch the video below:
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