A Bernie-bashing brawler who heaps praise on Hillary Clinton while decked out in 'Not My President' t-shirts and tight spandex trunks has become the most hated man in professional wrestling.

Daniel Harnsberger, a 36-year-old real estate broker who puts people in headlocks in his spare time while working as an independent wrestler, has shot to fame by performing as Dan Richards, aka 'The Progressive Liberal'.

To get into character for his performances, Harnsberger - who was profiled by Deadspin this week - pulls on his ring gear that usually consists of a pair of tights emblazoned with the Democratic donkey, black boots, kneepads, and a t-shirt covered with Hillary's face.

In recent months, the 36-year-old has used his shtick to become the top heel - the professional wrestling term for a character the crowd is meant to dislike - working in Kentucky's Appalachian Mountain Wrestling federation.

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Daniel Harnsberger, a 36-year-old real estate broker who moonlights as a professional wrestler, has become one of Kentucky's most hated characters for playing a smug 'Progressive Liberal'

Harnsberger gets in the ring wearing trunks emblazoned with the Democratic logo - much to the annoyance of his southeastern crowds

'This is how I feel, that's why it resonates,' the 'Progressive Liberal' told DailyMail.com about the success of his left-leaning lectures to the audience

Traditionally in professional wrestling, characters who proudly portray their American-ness are seen as the heroes of the over-the-top storylines, and frequently fight against dastardly foreigners who dare to speak badly of the US.

However, videos from 'The Progressive Liberal's' performances show he had flipped that narrative on its head, presenting his Democrat-leaning views in a cartoonish fashion to predominantly Republican crowds in the southeast.

He's smug, condescending, calls Fox News 'maggots' and Donald Trump a 'conman', and closes his bouts with a 'finishing move' known as the 'Liberal Agenda'.

In a video posted online earlier this month by Appalachian Mountain Wrestling, the 36-year-old spouted the sort of comments usually made by paranoid right-wingers about alleged evil plans of the Democratic Party to 'reprogram' Americans.

'I'm going to take care of all these people in Appalachian, Kentucky,' the character said at the start of the video.

'You people need to be reprogrammed, you continually vote against your own interest, you put people in congress – in the White House – that aren't going to help you, that aren't going to bring your jobs back.

'Dan Richards' posted this picture online earlier this year showing some of the gear he wears in the ring

'So let me tell you what the Progressive Liberal Daniel Richards is going to do: we're going to reprogram you, we're going to reeducate you, we'll teach you to read and write, we're going to help you get jobs with clean energy.'

In another 'promo' clip, he lectures: 'You people can't handle the truth, so you want to mislabel what I say… you want to call it controversial.

'As each win builds on the Progressive Liberal's record, you are going to know my message to be the truth.'

He also mocks the way locals talk and pronounce certain words, correcting them in an arrogant manner, mocks Sanders by saying he would have been a great secretary of state under Clinton, and told a Kentucky crowd he wanted to: 'exchange (their) bullets for bullet points of knowledge'.

Harnsberger told DailyMail.com he first started doing the character at a show in West Virginia shortly after then-candidate Trump entered the race.

'He was relatively new at the time,' he said, before explaining how he told the crowd if Trump was to win, he'd want him to build around that town instead of Mexico 'so none of you people can infiltrate the population'.

'We have this thing in wrestling we refer to as heat (when a crowd boos), it was instant heat.'

'They started chanting Trump straight away... it still surprises me. For them, other than him saying positive things about coal, I don't get it.'

Harnsberger told DailyMail.com the character has gotten stronger since Trump's win, as the crowd can jeer him with the result, and he has 'something to b**ch about'

He told Sports Illustrated in a recent interview the character has been so successful in getting fans in the very-red state of Kentucky to hate him, he once was warned he would be shot if he showed up for an event.

'Apparently people on a regular basis come up to Kyle and Nathan (the company's boss and announcer) and ask about "the liberal" or have not-so-nice things to say about me,' he told SI.

'It got to the point where there was one town where I was set to wrestle - and I did wrestle there - where one guy said, "If that guy shows up, I'm bringing a gun."

'The quote was, "If that f***ing Liberal comes here, I'm gonna bring a gun."

'My dad was terrified, but I'm just not. I guess I should be, but I'm just not.'

Harnsberger says he voted for Hillary Clinton during the last election, and expected her to beat Trump

The Progressive Liberal character also smugly mocks Bernie Sanders (pictured on June 26), by saying he would've been a great secretary of state under President Hillary

The character regularly bashes Donald Trump - pulling material from everything from the Russia scandal to healthcare

And despite the performance element of professional wrestling, Harnsberger said his political views essentially line up exactly with Dan Richards'.

'I voted for Hillary. I definitely wanted her to pull it out. And I mean, she had more than three million more votes than he did,' he told DailyMail.com, before adding the character has plenty of legs left.

'This is how I really feel, and that's why it resonates.

'Trump provides me with a lot of material, so I don't really know what the shelf-life is. I sort of wondered when he won if that was the end, but it's been even better since.

'Now, they have something to jeer me with, and I have something to b**ch about. I think I'm right, they don't and we clash.'

Harnsberger's work as the Progressive Liberal can be found on his Facebook page and on Appalachian Mountain Wrestling's YouTube