Wrestling’s new villain named himself ‘Progressive Liberal.’ Hillary’s … – Washington Post

Itwas a strange sight, even for the sport of professional wrestling.

A wrestler holding a microphone faced an Appalachian crowd before a match and began unleashing a torrent of insults, the nature of which seemed out of place at a pro wrestling tournament.

I understand now why you all identify with country music. Its slow and its simple and its boring, just like each and every one of you.

As the crowd grew increasing hostile, the wrestlers remarks became more politically tinged.

You know what, I think Bernie Sanders would make a great secretary of state.

I want to exchange your bullets for bullet points. Bullet points of knowledge.

He even called Donald Trump a con man. The crowd exploded in jeers. Shut up, someone yelled.

Strange, indeed. But then, the muscular mans shirt read, Not My President.

Meet the wrestler who goes by the nameProgressive Liberal Dan Richards,the most hated character inKentuckys Appalachian Mountain Wrestling (AMW) program, a small professional wrestling circuit.

Professional wrestling has long included villain characters called heels, someone for the audience to cheer against. Traditionally, though, these are burly, angry men who do evil things such as pledging allegianceto the devil or sneak-attacking other wrestlers with chairs and ladders. Hes burly enough, at 6 feet 5 inches tall. But he praises not the devil but Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

This might be the first case when a character became a villain by espousing liberal dogma. And it seems to be working hes caught the attention of Deadspin, Sports Illustrated, even the right-wing Breitbart.

The lattercalled him a wrestling heel for the Trump era, and wrote, His moves include smugness, condescension, and whining.

His shtick is simple. He plays a smug liberal elitist who lectures the audience on political matters. His enemies are Fox News maggots. His fictional character hails from D.C. His wrestling shorts bear a donkey. He insults his fans Appalachian accents, correcting them Do you live in a holler? No, you live in a hollow.

He even calls his finishing signature wrestling move the Liberal Agenda.

In one promo video, he wore a shirt patterned with dozens of photos of Hillary Clintons face, patched together in a strange collage, and he addressed AMWs fans: You people need to be reprogrammed. You continually vote against your own interests. You put people in Congress and the White House that arent going to help you. Theyre not going to bring your jobs back.

These may not sound like the most scathing of insults, but at a time when politics are a breeding ground for intense, burning emotion, it seems to work brilliantly.

As Deadspin reported:

Regardless of how much Richards plays up the left-wing politics to crowds in Kentucky and nearby states, it works. Look no further than the videos to see that those crowds despise him. Theres a kid in the crowd telling him to shut up, and relentless jeers, or Trump masks worn by attendees. And even the occasional death threat. , at a 2016 show in West Virginia, where Richards spoke about taking everyones guns, a patron displayed a pistol in a holster on his right hip and started rubbing it.

Another time, one fan threatened that if that f king liberal showed up at a different show, hed bring his gun.

The Progressive Liberal is really Daniel Harnsberger, a 36-year-old real estate agent from Richmond who had been on the indie wrestling circuit for years before conceiving of the character. Once he did, he simply waited for the prime moment to unveil it which he found in 2015 in Sabine, W. Va.

It was a small crowd and I had freedom to do whatever I wanted that night, so I just decided to get on the mic and this is maybe a couple months after Trump started running. Who knew the guy was gonna be president? Harnsberger told Sports Illustrated. So I did this interview on the house mic and I said, If hes elected president, I hope Trump doesnt build a wall around Mexico. Instead I hope he builds it around this town so none of you people can infiltrate the population.

The ire that statement got, I knew I was onto something, he added.Even then, those fans were chanting, Trump! Trump! Trump!

Part of the trick is that his characters politics are not much of a stretch from his own, as he toldDeadspin.

Its not like Im pretending to be something Im not, he told Sports Illustrated. Im just turning it up. I hear Trump chants everywhere I go now, as soon as I walk out.

The men he wrestles alongside tend to be staunch Republicans who so hate Democrats that Beau James, an administrator with AMW, pretends to feedHarnsberger his lines.

Hes protecting me, he said.

Despite the anger hes provoked or, more likely, because of it Harnsberger plans to continue wrestling as the Progressive Liberal Dan Richards. After all, it kills two birds with one stone, both fueling his wrestling career and allowing him to spread his beliefs.

I wish Democrats would be as unapologetic as Republicans are, he said. Just be unapologetic with your policies and who you are. Thats how the Progressive Liberal is. Im unapologetic.

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Wrestling's new villain named himself 'Progressive Liberal.' Hillary's ... - Washington Post