Obama Rodeo Clown Banned From State Fair

The Missouri State Fair Commission has banned a rodeo clown who came dressed in an Obama mask on the weekend from ever performing there again, KDSK reports. The clown appeared during a bull riding event. Another clown reportedly played with the lips of the Obama mask, and the clown eventually had to jump aside to avoid a bull. Many media outlets reported that the show's announcer asked the crowd whether "anyone would like to see Obama run down by a bull," but the announcer's attorney says that comment came from the clown too, the AP reports. Regardless, Show Me Progress says the audience was whipped "into a lather" by the performance. "I felt like I was at a Klan rally," said one fair visitor, per the Raw Story.

Fair bosses released an earlier statement calling the performance "inappropriate and disrespectful," and saying it "does not reflect the opinions or standards of the Missouri State Fair." Politicians, including the state's Democratic governor and Republican lieutenant governor, also slammed the show; Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill said it suggested to young people that it's OK to "disrespect, taunt, and joke about harming the president of our great nation." (More Mississippi stories.)