Fair bans clown who wore Obama mask

David Jackson | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption 'Obama rodeo clown' announcer says stunt wasn't his Rodeo announcer Mark Ficken resigned as president of the Missouri Rodeo Cowboys Association and says he's been unfairly roped into a controversy involving a clown posing as President Obama.

The Missouri State Fair has banned a rodeo clown who this past weekend donned a President Obama mask, and asked a crowd if they wanted to see "Obama run down by a bull."

Officials said the clown will never perform at the fair again, the Associated Press reported.

Organizers are also reviewing whether to take any actions against the contractor responsible for Saturday's rodeo.

There has been bipartisan criticism of the gag.

Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, a Republican, tweeted that the clown act was "disrespectful" to Obama, and "we are better than this."

A spokesman for Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, said the governor "agrees that the performance was disrespectful and offensive, and does not reflect the values of Missourians or the State Fair."

State Fair officials called the performance "inappropriate," and added in a statement: "We strive to be a family friendly event and regret that Saturday's rodeo badly missed that mark."

Also from the Associated Press:

"Perry Beam, who was among the spectators, said 'everybody screamed' and 'just went wild' as the announcer talked about having the bull run down the clown with the Obama mask.

"'It was at that point I began to feel a sense of fear. It was that level of enthusiasm,' Beam, a 48-year-old musician from Higginsville, said Sunday, referring to the reaction from the crowd that filled the fair's grandstand.

"He said another clown ran up to the one wearing the Obama mask, pretended to tickle him and played with the lips on the mask. About 15 minutes into the performance, the masked clown had to leave after a bull got too close, Beam said."

Beam also said:

"It was the usual until the very end at bull riding. As they were bringing the bulls into the chute and prepping them. ... They bring out what looks like a dummy. The announcer says 'Here's our Obama dummy, or our dummy of Obama.' They mentioned the president's name, I don't know, 100 times. It was sickening. It was feeling like some kind of Klan rally you'd see on TV."