Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, the Midwestern plumber who became known by the nickname “Joe the Plumber” during the 2008 election campaign as a metaphor for the “everyman” of the American middle class, has died of cancer at the age of 49 at his home in Campbellsport. 100 miles north of Milwaukee.


Wurzelbacher was referenced in a confrontation with then-Democratic nominee Barack Obama during the then-Illinois senator’s campaign stop in Toledo, Ohio. In front of the cameras, the plumber vetoed Obama’s proposal to increase taxes on small businesses, saying that would prevent him from buying a plumbing company that would potentially earn $250,000 a year.


Three days later, Obama’s rival, Senator John McCain, adopted the name “Joe the Plumber,” becoming a fixture in the final stages of the race for the White House.


After McCain’s defeat, El-Sabbak entered the ranks of the “Tea Party” after running unsuccessfully for a seat in Ohio: his message of defending the aspirations of white America that Washington had forgotten paved the way for populism. to Donald Trump.

Reproduction © Copyright ANSA Agency