The incident took place at the Missouri State Fair over the weekend. Clay on clown: 'Ugly face of intolerance'

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) were among the politicians who condemned the rodeo clown who wore a mask of President Obama and asked the crowd if they wanted to see the president “run down by a bull.”

The incident took place at the Missouri State Fair over the weekend. Clay issued a statement saying the act showed “an ugly face of intolerance.”


“I am amazed that 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.”

( Also on POLITICO: 'Obama run down by a bull')

McCaskill also released a statement Sunday calling the performance “shameful.”

“If what’s being reported is true, then it’s shameful and it’s unacceptable,” her statement said. “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 rodeo clown responsible for the performance has been permanently banned from the Missouri State Fair, KVUE News reported.

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