A conservative Texas lawmaker is inviting a rodeo clown banned from the Missouri state fair to perform in the Lone Star State instead.
Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Tex.) says that the unidentified rodeo clown and his colleagues have been unfairly targeted by liberals “to create a climate of fear.” He invited them to come perform at a fair in his southeastern Texas district instead.
“Liberals want to bronco bust dissent. But Texans value speech, even if its speech they don’t agree with,” Stockman said in a statement issued by his office Wednesday. “From Molly Ivins to Louie Gohmert and every opinion between Texans value free and open political speech. I’m sure any rodeo in Texas would be proud to have performers.”
Missouri state and fair officials reacted swiftly over the weekend after a rodeo clown donned a mask of President Obama and asked people if they want to see the president “run down by a bull.”
State Fair officials labeled the show “inappropriate” and said it “does not reflect the opinions or standards” of the fair.
Stockman said Wednesday that the reaction was typical of liberals.
“The liberal reaction is straight out of (Saul) Alinsky. They want to crush dissent by isolating and polarizing anyone who questions Obama, even if it’s a rodeo clown with a harmless gag,” he said. “The idea to create a state of fear and make people afraid to trivialize Obama. No one tried to personally destroy the rodeo clown who wore a George H.W. Bush mask.”
Stockman represents a new district in the southeastern corner of Texas that was created as a result of population growth tabulated during the 2010 census. He was first elected to Congress in 1994, but only served on term, and was reelected last year. He’s an outspoken conservative critic of Obama, who said in January that he was willing to initiate impeachment proceedings against the president if the White House implemented new restrictions on firearms through executive action.
