The man who became known as “Joe the Plumber” during the 2008 U.S. presidential election has died. The family of Samuel Wurzelbacher says he died Sunday in Wisconsin.
But he drew criticism during the campaign for suggesting that the United States should build a fence at the Mexico border and “start shooting” at immigrants suspected of entering the country illegally.
Yeah. Literally who? Maybe if he was some antivaxx crackpot who ended up dying of a vaccine preventable disease. At least that'd be some leopards ate my face content.
If we're going to have a news story every time someone who had a bad take on the TV 15 years ago dies, we're never going to have time to report on anything else.
I didn’t even realize he was a real person. I thought that “Joe the Plumber” was just a name they used in the debates to signify some kind of common person.
His oldest son, Joey Wurzelbacher, said his father died Sunday in Wisconsin after a long illness.
“The only thing I have to say is that he was a true patriot,” Joey Wurzelbacher — whose father had the middle name Joseph and went by Joe — said in a telephone interview.
He went from toiling as a plumber in suburban Toledo, Ohio, to life as a media sensation when he asked Obama about his tax plan during a campaign stop.
Days later, Obama’s Republican opponent, U.S. Sen. John McCain, repeatedly cited “Joe the Plumber” in a presidential debate.
He also wrote a book and worked with a veterans organization that provided outdoor programs for wounded soldiers.
But he drew criticism during the campaign for suggesting that the United States should build a fence at the Mexico border and “start shooting” at immigrants suspected of entering the country illegally.
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