A Kentucky teen shared a “Trump quote” at his graduation and everyone cheered…until he revealed Obama said it
As the school year draws to a close, high schools and colleges across the country are holding their graduation ceremonies. It’s the perfect time to give advice, and many commencement speakers choose to highlight words of wisdom from famous figures. And one Kentucky commencement speaker decided to do just that…and trolled the entire crowd in the process.
On June 2nd, Ben Bowling, the 2018 valedictorian of Bell County High School in Kentucky, began his speech by sharing some inspirational quotes, one of which he attributed to Trump.
"Don't just get involved," Bowling told the crowd. "Fight for your seat at the table. Better yet, fight for your seat at the head of the table."
The audience erupted into cheers. But Bowling wasn’t finished.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," he continued. "That was Barack Obama."
The cheers immediately died down, and a few groans could be heard in the gymnasium.
Kentucky: Crowd cheers when valedictorian, Ben Bowling, quotes Trump.
Then Ben reveals it was an Obama quote.
Crowd goes silent.
It’s never the ‘what’, it’s always the ‘who’. pic.twitter.com/3DutJ7w9vd
— Never taken the 5th or stolen classified materials (@MaggieJordanACN) June 4, 2018
Bell County is overwhelmingly conservative, and nearly 80 percent of its constituents voted for Trump in the 2016 election. Bowling told the Louisville Courier Journal that he had included the moment simply as a joke.
"I just thought it was a really good quote, he told the Courier Journal. “Most people wouldn’t like it if I used it, so I thought I’d use Donald Trump’s name. It is southeastern Kentucky after all."
While this was an admittedly humorous moment, it also serves as a sobering reveal about political bias. An entire crowd of people proudly embraced a sentiment when they believed it was said by Donald Trump…but then were suddenly ready to boo the very same statement when they learned it was said by Barack Obama. Which is sad at best, and scary at worst. What are your thoughts?
