A rodeo clown’s spontaneous act has Missouri State Fair officials and politicians apologizing to President Obama.
According to the Washington Post, during the bull riding competition on Saturday night, a rodeo clown wearing an Obama mask, asked the crowd if anyone wanted to see Obama “run down by a bull”. Members of the crowd cheered, and the act pressed on. According to CNN, the clown called Obama a clown, and told everyone they were going to “stomp” Obama with the bull.
One of the event’s spectators was disgusted by the display. Perry Beam, a Higginsville, Mo. native, felt he had to share what he just saw, and posted his account on social media, KSHB reported.
Beam said, “It wasn’t clean; it wasn’t fun. It was awful,” CNN reported.
According to the Associated Press, Beam also compared the clown’s act to a KKK rally. Beam said, “They mentioned the president’s name, I don’t know, 100 times. It was sickening. It was feeling like some kind of clan rally, you’d see on TV.”
Missouri politicians and the Missouri Rodeo Cowboy association were embarrassed by the clown’s act. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said this was “unacceptable”. Other local politicians stressed that clown’s performance is not an accurate representation of the state, as they said, “Missouri is better than this.” The terms “disrespectful” and “inappropriate” were also used to label the clown’s act.
Missouri State Fair officials felt humiliated and were stunned by the performance. Announcer Mark Ficken claimed he was unaware of the Obama skit, as no one notified him about the act being part of the show, NPR reported.
According to the Washington Post, the clown is no longer welcome, as he has been banished from the Missouri State Fair.
