Louisville-area graduation photo galleries 
 
 Central Magnet High School 
 
 Iroquois High School 
 
 Valley High School 
 
 St. Xavier High School 
 
 Sacred Heart Academy 
 
 Assumption High School 
 
 Read or Share this story: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2018/06/03/kentucky-valedictorian-quotes-trump-then-reveals-obama/667625002/ [Trump might be able to pardon himself. Every other race has been (more of) a landslide by whoever happened to be on the Republican side of the ballot: nearly 71 percent for John McCain in 2008, according to the state's board of elections. “This is the part of my speech where I share some inspirational quotes I found on Google,” Bowling said, before doling out the best the search engine could find: 
 
 “ ‘Don't just get involved. Fight for your seat at the table. Better yet, fight for a seat at the head of the table.’ — Donald J. Trump.” 
 
 The crowd went wild, according to a video Bowling shared with the Louisville Courier-Journal. Their applause for the commander in chief nearly drowned out Bowling's next statement: “Just kidding. That was Barack Obama.” 
 
 The applause died down to silence. 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 
 
 “Y'all, no lie — the valedictorian just quoted Trump and everyone cheered ... then he told us that it was actually an Obama quote. Best part of the day. — Alisha Russell (@_alisharussell) June 2, 2018 
 
 Russell immediately went to Twitter to share the experience. “The crowd erupted in applause and before they could even finish clapping I said I was kidding, and the applause quickly died,” Bowling later told the newspaper. “I just thought it was a really good quote,” Bowling said. 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.” 
 
 Check this out: It's time for pomp and circumstance — and high school graduation photo galleries! “For the most part, if you’ve been successful up to this point there’s nothing to worry.” 
 
 Thomas Novelly can be reached at 502-582-4465 or by email at tnovelly@courier-journal.com. My first piece of advice is this: Don’t just get involved. Better yet, fight for a seat at the head of the table.' He finished his speech, snapped some graduation pictures and received no major backlash from administrators, peers or parents — and is looking forward to going to the University of Kentucky later this year. More: Kentuckian Johnny Depp's health in question after Instagram pictures 
 
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 "I'm really excited to go to college," Bowling said. “There's more freedom in college and there's also way more places to eat in Lexington.” 
 
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 Trump sent a retired teacher a letter about gun policy.
– Perspective is everything in persuasive speaking, which Ben Bowling found out in a flash while giving a speech as valedictorian at his Kentucky high school graduation. Per the Louisville Courier-Journal, the 18-year-old senior at Bell County High School wanted to impart a nugget of wisdom to the crowd Saturday, and so he offered this quote he said he found during an internet search: "Don't just get involved. Fight for your seat at the table. Better yet, fight for a seat at the head of the table." The source, he told his classmates and others, was Donald J. Trump, which elicited wild applause. "Just kidding," Bowling quickly informed his audience. "That was Barack Obama." Then, suddenly … the applause waned; the New York Times notes there was a "lone boo" (a clip is on Twitter). Bowling lives in a county where the GOP has drawn the majority of ballots in presidential elections over the past 12 years, per the Washington Post—including almost four-fifths of the votes cast in 2016 for Trump. Bowling's switcheroo drew both laughter and "collective groaning," one attendee noted, per the Courier-Journal. The teen, who's heading to the University of Kentucky to study biology and is described by his principal to the Times as "very politically aware," says he "didn't mean anything bad" by his joke and was just trying to lighten the mood with what he thought was "a really good quote." The quote, meanwhile, was taken from a 2012 commencement speech the former president gave at Barnard College. (One valedictorian revealed her undocumented status.)