Missouri Obama Rodeo Clown Draws Angry Criticism

A bull riding competition at a Missouri State Fair on Saturday night has come under fire after a clown, sporting a Barack Obama mask and a broom protruding out of his backside, was brought out to parade in front of the public, according to CNN.

During the bull riding competition, President of the Missouri Cowboy Rodeo Association and school superintendent Mark Ficken announced that they had a “special guest.”

“The guest” turned out to be a clown wearing a President Barack Obama mask and the aforementioned stick that appeared to be stuck up his behind.

Reportedly trying to rev up the crowd, another voice over the loudspeaker said, “We’re going to stomp Obama now,” and, “As soon as this bull comes out, Obama, don’t you move,,,, He’s going to getcha, getcha getcha, getcha.”

Then yet another voice was heard saying, “Hey, I know I’m a clown. He’s just running around acting like one. Doesn’t know he is one.”

The rodeo’s antics angered and sickened some spectators, with one attendee, Perry Beam, likening the event to a Klan rally.  “It wasn’t clean; it wasn’t fun. It was awful; it was sickening,” Beam said, “It was racist.”

Watch news coverage of the Missouri rodeo’s “act” here:

Later on, the board of directors at the Missouri Cowboy Rodeo Association issued an apology on theirwebsite:

The Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association would like to extend a sincere apology for the inappropriate act during the Bull Riding at the Saturday performance of the MRCA Rodeo. The MRCA Board of Directors and over 600 members do not condone nor approve of this sort of activity.  The MRCA Board of Directors is dealing with the situation firmly and quickly as this type of behavior will not be tolerated. 

The Sport of Rodeo is not meant to be a political platform. We are taking measures by training and educating our contract acts to prevent anything like this from ever happening again.  All Members of the Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association are very proud of our Country and our President.  Once again our apologies to the Missouri State Fair and the fans who werein attendance and we hope to see you at another rodeo soon.

When news of the rodeo incident spread, even some politicos were taken aback by the blatant disrespect that was displayed. Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder tweeted:

I condemn the actions disrespectful to POTUS (President of the United States) the other night. We are better than this.

U.S. Senator for Missouri Claire McCaskill, one of Obama’s earliest and most-prominent supporters in his 2008 campaign, also lambasted the rodeo on her website:

If what’s being reported is true, then it’s shameful and it’s unacceptable. The State Fair is funded by taxpayer dollars, and is supposed to be a place where we can all bring our families and celebrate the state that we love. But the young Missourians who witnessed this stunt learned exactly the wrong lesson about political discourse – that somehow it’s ever acceptable to, in a public event, disrespect, taunt, and joke about harming the President of our great nation. Missouri is better than this, and I expect someone to be held accountable.

The latest irreverent act against the President comes on the heels of another incident, where the image ofObama was used as a target in a dart game at the annual Otsego County Fair located in Morris, New York, which ran from July 30th until August 5th.