Grad Gets Cheers For Trump Quote, Until He Reveals It Was Obama’s

PINEVILLE, KY — Ben Bowling pulled the ultimate “trump” card in his valedictorian speech to the graduates of the Bell County High School Saturday morning. “Don’t just get involved,” he said, attributing the quote to President Donald Trump. “Fight for your seat at the table. Better yet, fight for a seat at the head at the table.”

Southeast Kentucky is deep Trump country, and Bell County is especially so. Nearly 80 percent of voters there cast ballots for Trump in the 2016 presidential election. The crowd roared its approval.

“Just kidding,” the 18-year-old Bowling said before the applause died down. “That was Barack Obama.”

Silence followed.

The stunt may have caused “some collective groaning” among some in the audience, but other people “thought it was absolutely hilarious,” Kentucky law student Alisha Russell wrote on Twitter, according to an account by the Louisville Courier Journal.

“Y’all, no lie — the valedictorian just quoted Trump and everyone cheered, then he told us that it was actually an Obama quote,” Russell tweeted. “Best part of the day. I am rolling.”

Bowling, who graduated with a 4.216 grade point average, told the Courier Journal he “didn’t mean anything bad by it.”

“I just thought it was a really good quote,” Bowling told the newspaper. “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.”

He plans to attend the University of Kentucky and study biology. He hopes to pursue a degree in medicine.

File photo by Shutterstock / baipooh