Obama rodeo clown: People have lost their ability to laugh

A rodeo clown at the Missouri State Fair who sparked outrage earlier this month by wearing an Obama mask is speaking out about the controversy.

Tuffy Gessling told KCTV people have threatened to burn down his house and run him over with a car since the incident at the fair.

Gessling said the irreverent spectacle wasn't meant to be "hating on anyone."

"This clown bit has been around for generations," he added. "I didn’t think anything more of it than what we’ve done 15 years ago, 10 years ago, five years ago, when we’ve done it with Bush, Clinton and Ronald Reagan."

Many viewed a crowd of Missourians cheering for violence against the country's first black president as a symbol of racism. But Gessling denied his stunt was motivated by race. He said he would be honored to shake Obama's hand.

“I actually think that a lot of people have lost their ability to laugh,” he said. “Look at the country as a whole, there is a lot more to be mad at than a rodeo clown at a rodeo trying to make somebody laugh.”

Watch video, courtesy of KCTV, below:

KCTV5