UFC fighter Jacob Volkmann has been placed on leave as an assistant wresting coach at a Minnesota high school after making unfavorable comments about President Obama.
Interviewed after a fight earlier this month, Volkmann said, “He’s not too bright… someone’s gotta knock some sense into that idiot.”
Volkmann specifically mentioned his displeasure with the Obama administration’s “making home affordable plan” and the health care overhaul.
“I’m a chiropractor, so I know that the health care situation isn’t good, but he’s making it worse” Volkmann said in the interview.
According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, parents called the school to express their displeasure with his statement.
“The biggest problem was that I was wearing White Bear Lake High School hats and shirts (in the news stories), and that was why parents were calling in,” said Volkmann.
“I’m not just being an anti-Obama person,” Volkmann said, “It is just these two polices is what I’m talking about.” He noted that parents were particularly upset with his use of the word “idiot” to describe Obama, which he acknowledged “was probably a bad word to use.”
After the initial comments about Obama, Volkmann was visited by the Secret Service at his coaching job.