A wrestler on the Kentucky’s Appalachian Mountain Wrestling circuit is drawing attention and, in some places, scorn for his own brand of political speech.
Daniel Harnsberger, who wrestles under the name of the "Progressive Liberal" Daniel Richards, regularly irks crowds through Appalachia with taunts about country living and conservative politics, according to a Washington Post story.
Some of Harnsberger’s taunts:
“You know what, I think Bernie Sanders would make a great secretary of state.”
“I understand now why you all identify with country music. It’s slow and it’s simple and it’s boring, just like each and every one of you.”
“You people need to be reprogrammed. You continually vote against your own interests. You put people in Congress and the White House that aren’t going to help you. They’re not going to bring your jobs back.”
According to an article about Harnsberger that appeared in Sports Illustrated, the shtick is actually pretty close to how he feels about the current political climate. When asked about his own political views, Harnsberger said, "… I have a platform to express any frustrations and say what's on my mind on the Appalachian Mountain Wrestling television program that airs locally there in Kentucky. We're trying to get coverage in a couple more states, which we're on the verge of doing, and this will probably help. But yeah, it helps me blow off some steam."
Harnsberger further eggs-on his audiences by wearing a T-shirt covered with pictures of Hillary Clinton. Harnsberger said he voted for Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.
“I definitely wanted her to pull it out,” Harnsberger told SI.com. “Three million more people voted for her than Trump, but we have this electoral college, which I’ve never understood, even when I was a kid. It just makes it to where only a few states matter. I’m lucky I live in Virginia for that reason. When I go to vote, it’s like OK, this matters. …”
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