A high school valedictorian pretend-quoted President Trump in his graduation speech but then quickly acknowledged that the comment was actually from President Obama.
Ben Bowling was the valedictorian of Bell County High School’s graduating class who spoke at their ceremony on Saturday. Bell County is located in southeastern Kentucky near the Tennesseean border.
Crowd cheers when Kentucky HS valedictorian Ben Bowling quotes Trump, then groans when he reveals the inspirational quote was actually from Barack Obama pic.twitter.com/7GL14IIb1S
— ManSitChoAzzDown (@AngryManTV) June 4, 2018
“‘Don’t just get involved. Fight for your seat at the table,'” Bowling quoted. “‘Fight for a seat at the head of the table — Donald J. Trump.'”
After a host of cheers and applause, Bowling said, “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. That was Barack Obama.”
“I just thought it was a really good quote,” Bowling said to 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.”
Here’s a new twist on the “Who Said It” game from the Bell County Valedictorian @KySportsRadio @bowling_ben @MattJonesRadio https://t.co/VSRs1Gh0Tf
— P Sizemore (@tristatecatfan) June 4, 2018
“The crowd erupted in applause and before they could even finish clapping I said I was kidding and the applause quickly died,” Bowling added.
Bowling will be attending the University of Kentucky where he plans on studying biology.
The surrounding area of Bell County is heavily red, having 80 percent of the votes in the 2016 elections going to President Donald Trump.