What Red Cloud residents said when Dan Osborn returned after shoving them into national spotlight

RED CLOUD —  A small, quiet Nebraska town near the Kansas border was home to the famous 20th-century writer Willa Cather. 

The town has the Willa Cather Center, dedicated to preserving materials related to her life and writing. Red Cloud has several historical landmarks connected to Cather, including her childhood home — the largest collection of historic sites dedicated to one American author in the country. 

It has an opera house, a bowling alley, an art gallery, a winery, a golf course and a pharmacy that serves smoothies and coffee. But this town of fewer than 1,000 people was shoved into the national spotlight by a bitter Nebraska Senate race between incumbent Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts and registered independent candidate Dan Osborn after an audio leak, first reported by the Omaha World-Herald, in which Osborn spoke about a hypothetical Red Cloud resident as a Trump supporter. 

In the recording, Osborn said, “Billy Bob in f—— Red Cloud, Nebraska, who lives next to the f—— Trump store as you pull into town and is waving the flag, all he knows is that he’s on the winning team,” Osborn said. “(Trump has) been so effective at taking Billy Bob and his wife Mary Jane or Mary Jo and telling them … you’re on the winning team. And that’s all they care about, because their lives probably suck so f—— bad.”

The national media parachuted in to cover the leak. The Ricketts campaign and Republicans amplified the audio in an ad. 

Osborn returned Thursday to Red Cloud, prompting several outlets to make the trip to cover the town hall. The former union leader started the roughly 40-minute affair with an apology for the comment.

“I do regret those words. I apologize to the people at Red Cloud.” Osborn said. “They shouldn’t have been said.” 

The Osborn town hall wasn’t fiery. About 50 people attended. Three people raised his leaked comments and asked questions during the Q&A portion of the town hall. People asked Osborn about AI, the Second Amendment, property taxes and Veterans Affairs.

Like much with politics, the reaction to his comments and his return visit was mixed. Near Red Cloud’s Main Street, several Osborn campaign signs stood. 

One woman walking down Main Street, who didn’t wish to be named, said she didn’t care about the comment and she is still voting for Osborn, saying the comment has been blown out of proportion. But she added that others were upset. 

Most business owners and staff didn’t want to talk about the political drama. One bar owner, to an inquiry from the Examiner, said, “Politics and bar business don’t go together. We stay completely out of it.” 

Danny Benge, the owner of Hometown Market, said he wasn’t interested in speaking about it either, but said, “Thanks for thinking of us, though.” 

A server at a local business said some customers would get into heated arguments about the leaked audio. The server added that it has become sort of a joke among the customers. 

Kristen Brooks, who was at the town hall, asked Osborn, why did he “dog on Red Cloud?”

Brooks told NTV that “Red Cloud is a good town to live in and I didn’t appreciate his comments and how he said all the bad things about Red Cloud … that’s not right.” 

After the town hall, some people who didn’t wish to be named weren’t impressed with Osborn’s apology and questioned why they would vote for someone who spoke like that. 

Also, last week a letter from 45 people, including 20 Republican state lawmakers and 25 county officials, demanded a response from Osborn.

“The people of rural Nebraska do not need our pity. They deserve our respect,” the letter reads. “We are proud of the lives we have built here, proud of the communities we call home, and proud to represent the people who make rural Nebraska what it is.” 

None of the officials who signed the letter were from  Red Cloud or Webster County, where Red Cloud is. State Sen. David Murman, whose legislative district includes Red Cloud, signed the letter. 

Red Cloud’s mayor and council members didn’t respond to a request for comment or interviews. 

Kathy Stoner, a 65-year-old Red Cloud resident, and her husband, Max, were more forgiving of Osborn’s comment. 

“I’m really impressed that he came back, and he took full accountability,” Stoner said. 

Max, who is 74, said he can’t hold the comment against Osborn because he’s sure other people talk like that, but they don’t have people recording them. He added that Osborn seems like a smart and caring person.

Kathy said the reaction to the comments around town has been mixed. She said Red Cloud is a history-filled town with great food and great people.  

Jarrod McCartney, executive director of Discover Red Cloud, told the Examiner in a statement that he “would encourage anyone interested to truly experience what Red Cloud has to offer before making a judgment” — pointing to the roughly $25 million invested in the town over the last two decades. 

“This investment is transforming our downtown and building momentum for additional growth. … They also demonstrate our resiliency and determination to continue to progress as a community by building on our assets and supplementing the economic activity generated by agricultural production. We’re Red Cloud proud and we think life is pretty great here. Book a night at Hotel Garber, and we think you’ll agree,” McCartney said. 

The Ricketts campaign, through deputy campaign manager Max Oberg, said, “Nebraskans already heard what Dan Osborn really thinks of rural communities like Red Cloud. Showing up … doesn’t change that. He looks down on them the same way the coastal billionaires writing his checks do.”

Damion Billing, a 17-year-old turning 18 before Election Day, told the Examiner after the town hall that he laughs at the comment. 

Billing said he doesn’t really like Osborn, but given his stance on marijuana and hemp, he plans to vote for the Navy veteran. 

“Most of the people here … I don’t really think they give a s—,” Billing said when asked about how people in Red Cloud felt about the comments. 

The general election is Nov. 3. Early voting starts  Oct. 5.