What once would have been dismissed as crude humor at a county fair has now turned into a full-blown cultural scandal. On Tuesday, a rodeo clown at the Missouri State Fair was banned for life after wearing a mask of President Obama and asking the crowd if they wanted to see him run down by a bull. Fair organizers rushed to call the performance “unconscionable” and announced they were cutting ties with the Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association. The Missouri State Fair Commission went further, declaring the act “inappropriate and not in keeping with the Fair’s standards.” One witness even escalated the rhetoric by describing the scene as “some kind of Klan rally.”
The announcer at the event, Mark Ficken, now finds himself trying to clear his name after reports accused him of making the inflammatory remarks. His lawyer pushed back hard, stating, “Unfortunately, in this day of internet piling on, once an outlet published an incorrect statement of facts, the erroneous attribution to my client of comments made by a rogue rodeo clown went viral.” This is a familiar pattern in modern America: accusations spread quickly online, reputations are destroyed overnight, and truth often takes a back seat to outrage.
The clown himself, identified as Tuffy Gessling, issued an apology on Facebook. In his own words: “I am sorry, I never ment [sic] to offend anyone I ment [sic] no disrespect to anyone for the joke or jokes I may have said at the rodeo, once agian [sic] I never ment [sic] to offend or hurt anyone’s feelings.” Despite this, Missouri State Fair officials are now requiring rodeo clowns and other contractors to undergo mandatory sensitivity training — a striking example of how even rural traditions are being reshaped by the same bureaucratic impulses that govern universities and corporations.
The political class quickly seized on the moment. Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO) declared, “In 2013 such hatred, intolerance and disrespect towards the President of the United States could take place at the Missouri State Fair… Our fair is supposed to showcase the best of Missouri, instead, it showed an ugly face of intolerance and ignorance to the world.” His colleague, Rep. Steve Webb (D-MO), took it further: “Sometimes apologies just won’t do. While I do not believe this represents all of rural Missouri, the racial undertones of a taunted rodeo clown dressed as our nation’s first black president is what the nation woke up to this morning. It’s time for all of us, from both rural and urban areas, to fight this type of sentiment with a united front. Leaders of this state need to do more than accept a pressured apology.” Webb even called on Gov. Jay Nixon (D-MO) to cancel a long-standing tradition — the ham breakfast at the State Fair.
The uproar highlights how a local rodeo act has become the latest flashpoint in America’s broader culture wars. What was once seen as ribbing or satire — mocking political figures, whether Republican or Democrat — is now treated as an existential threat. For decades, presidents from both parties have been targets of parody, jokes, and outright ridicule in the public square. But today, when that ridicule crosses certain political lines, punishment is swift, reputations are ruined, and even age-old rural traditions are forced into ideological compliance.
To conservatives, the entire episode illustrates the creeping spread of political correctness into every corner of American life. The swift lifetime ban, the required sensitivity training, and the calls to cancel long-standing community events are not simply responses to poor judgment — they reflect a deeper shift. Instead of using common sense to distinguish between a tasteless joke and genuine threats, authorities default to heavy-handed punishment and sweeping mandates. Once again, rural America becomes the backdrop for a national debate on who gets to define free expression and what counts as “acceptable” speech.
What began as a rodeo stunt has now turned into another cautionary tale: in modern America, even clowns aren’t safe from cancellation.
A nothing burger if he had worn a Trump mask!!
Ridiculous reaction!
Rodeo was the FIRST organized American sport!
Tough, weather hardened men and women that lived with their livestock.
Every day was a fight with the elements, predators, thieves and settlers fencing off the open range. These TOUGH men and women found a way to have fun, competing in the skills they honed day after day.
Rodeo was their chance to relax and cut loose.
The Rodeo Clown came out the toughest Cowboys.
Distracting angry, stomping, charging animals to get the rider out of the pen!
Very dangerous, very serious, they used clowning to bring humor when saving a cowboy injured by a ride.
These Cowboys made fun of each other, their Cooky, the trail boss and politicians.
Presidents were and are easy targets.
For a nation recovering from the Civil War, the open range on the wild prairie offered solace and refuge.
The veterans of both sides came together at their rodeos. The wounds of war were healed, in time.
The current political climate is as dangerous as an open range lighting storm.
How many entertainers have used images of Donald Trump’s severed head, the murder of Julius Caeser by Brutus and the Senators, as well as TWO known assassination attempts?!
The HYPER SENSITIVE liberals can’t take the heat of political humor.
After all of the attacks against Right leaning and conservative comedians, actors, singers, journalist, and the LAWFARE against the protesters at the Capitol on January 6th, 2021, I have NO SYMPATHY FOR WHINY LIBERALS OFFENDED BY A CLOWN IN AN obama MASK!
The incessant drumbeat of the Democrats and the Communist Anarchists inspired a deranged young man to KILL the BEST OF US!
The Missouri State Fair Commission overreacted and cut ties with the Missouri Cowboys. Too bad for them!
Rodeo fans can take their money to another venue and Soyboy liberals can kiss conservative dollars BYE BYE!
I hope the next Rodeo they drag an effigy of obama around the arena behind a raging bull!
Traitors get the noose!
Just crude political humor! Nobody wants to see real violence!
But, what is good for the goose is good for the gander!
I agree with you but am not near as nice. The left are pressing for a reaction they aren’t equipped to deal with. I am looking forward to that day patiently waiting when these demonrats get a heavy dose of reality.