Throughout the five-season run of “The Wire,” Isiah Whitlock Jr. played Sen. Clay Davis, the notoriously corrupt politician with a propensity for elongated profanity.
By the end of the series, the character could say his catchphrase swear, “Sheeeeeeeee-it,” for uncomfortably long periods of time and viewers would think nothing of it. His ridiculousness so established, it wasn’t surprising when Davis acted like an evil clown.
Whitlock is now using his notoriety from “The Wire” to weigh in on the 2016 presidential election, creating a coin bank modeled after his head that says, “Sheeeeeeeee-it,” whenever money is inserted. “It has to do with our politicians’ love of super PACs and money,” explained Whitlock to The Huffington Post during a phone call. “With the talking coin bank, you can have a super PAC in your own home and keep all the money for yourself.”
The actor claims he specifically predicted Donald Trump’s staying power because the former reality TV star reminded him of Sen. Davis, who seemingly couldn’t be stopped time and again on “The Wire.”
“I would see some of the things he was doing,” said Whitlock. “Some of the stuff kind of resembled Clay Davis from ‘The Wire.’ Some of the things that would come out of his mouth, I said, ‘You know, he’s going to be around for a while. At least until Nov. 8.’”
Whitlock thinks Trump’s flippant attitude toward corruption is especially Davis-esque. “When he was doing the debates and when [the moderators] said he had given money to the Clintons, he said, ‘I give to everybody!’” Whitlock said, laughing. “I thought that that was typical of Clay Davis.”
He also agreed that it wouldn’t be too startling if Trump started using elongated profanity during the upcoming presidential debates.
But that said, Trump isn’t the only politician that Whitlock finds ridiculous. With more laughter, the actor said in this election he finds himself ...
“with both candidates, sometimes saying, ‘Sheeeeeeeee-it.’”
This money bank follows Whitlock’s prior creation ― a talking bobblehead that similarly said his catchphrase ― and, according to the actor, has some great incentives for fans to purchase one.
“I encourage people to get it because it’s a great way to save,” said Whitlock.
“I’m telling people, ‘Look, if you want to put your kids through college or buy that home or take that vacation, this is the way to do it. It’s a unique way to save, you’ll be saving slowly, but you’ll get there. And you’ll find yourself in prosperity in about ... 30 or 40 years.’”
He burst into laughter again and joked, “Don’t tell anybody that.”
Watch a few of Sen. Clay Davis’ more memorable swears:
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