A Fox host has floated a bonkers punishment for officials who refused to take part in President Donald Trump’s state fair: disqualification from higher office.
Outnumbered co-host Emily Compagno lashed out at the states that opted not to participate in the Great American State Fair, which includes Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Pennsylvania.
The plan was to have all 50 states represented at the fair, but several opted not to participate for various reasons, including high costs, difficulty securing sponsors, and aversion to politicization.
“The message is: my politicization of this, my hatred for an individual, my lack of respect for the office of the presidency and my clearly lack of respect for the United States of America, completely trumps—no pun intended—my public service of my occupation,” Compagno ranted on Tuesday.
“What a travesty to the citizenry of those 11 states that don’t get to be represented,” she went on. “To be discarded like that, overlooked, not included because of someone’s petty feelings.”
Compagno, 46, proceeded to float what she thought was a commensurate price to pay for not attending the president’s sparsely attended fair.
“I find this so patently embarrassing, and I think that this frankly should be disqualifying for any of them that are seeking higher office,” she said. “Let’s remind them of how petty they were to exclude citizens that wanted to celebrate their nation’s 250th birthday.”
The fair was billed as “a world-class exposition and modern-day World’s Fair.” Instead, attendees from all over the country were met with thin crowds, empty booths, melted ice cream, and a cow named after first lady Melania Trump.
Trump kicked off the fair last week with a rally that he insisted was “packed to the brim” with 45,000 people—contrary to footage of audience members leaving during a speech in which he recycled his usual MAGA talking points.
“I wish we were able to have an even larger area, which we will be able to do on July 4th when I’ll be speaking again,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The airplane flyovers and music were fantastic. Everybody stayed right until the end of my Speech because they loved hearing about a truly successful America. See you again on July 4th!”
One North Carolina company participated in the fair—and quickly regretted it.
Mt. Olive Pickles, a 100-year-old company, pulled out of the fair after a Confederate flag was displayed in their state’s pavilion. The North Carolina government did not participate in the fair due to expenses, so private firms stepped in to sponsor the exhibit.
“We are proud of our North Carolina roots, and we agreed to be a part of an exhibit, as presented to us, that would represent the best of our great state,” the company said in a statement. “We were unaware that an image of the Confederate flag was included in a video as part of this exhibit, and we have withdrawn our participation. Our company stands on values of human dignity, opportunity, and freedom.”
