Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins Mocked Online After Asking Crowd to Applaud at Minnesota Farmfest
Key Takeaways
- •Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins was delivering remarks at Minnesota Farmfest, a major Midwest agricultural trade show attended by thousands of farmers, agribusiness leaders, and policymakers.
- •During her speech, Rollins paused to tell the audience that a statement about record-high renewable volume obligations was 'due for another round of applause,' prompting online mockery.
- •Journalist Aaron Rupar posted a video clip of the moment on X, comparing it to Jeb Bush's well-known 'please clap' incident from the 2016 Republican primary campaign.
- •Rollins used her appearance to highlight the Trump administration's promises of smaller government, deregulation, tax cuts, and the elimination of 'woke' policies.
- •The renewable volume obligations Rollins referenced are EPA-set mandates under the Renewable Fuel Standard that determine minimum volumes of renewable fuels blended into the national transportation fuel supply.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins drew widespread online mockery on Tuesday after she paused mid-speech to suggest that an audience should applaud, drawing immediate comparisons to a memorable 2016 campaign-trail moment involving former Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush.
Rollins, who was confirmed as Agriculture Secretary in February 2025, was delivering remarks at Minnesota Farmfest, one of the Midwest's largest agricultural trade shows, held annually near Morgan, Minnesota. The event draws thousands of farmers, agribusiness leaders, and policymakers from across the region, making it a key venue for the administration to pitch its agenda directly to a core constituency. During her appearance, she highlighted the Trump administration's policy agenda and its support for American farmers.
"With my boss, President Trump, what he was trying to figure out was if we've got to deliver on our promises," Rollins said. "We promised a smaller government. We promised to deregulate. We promised tax cuts. We promised to get rid of all the crazy woke."
She then pointed to the administration's stance on biofuels as a key achievement. "And the biofuels industry has never had a bigger backer, a more vocal backer, than my boss President Donald Trump," Rollins said. "This spring he announced — I think this may be due for another round of applause — the highest renewable volume obligations, RVOs, in the history of this program."
The RVOs Rollins referenced are annual mandates set by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Renewable Fuel Standard, which determine the minimum volume of renewable fuels that must be blended into the national transportation fuel supply. Higher RVOs are typically championed by corn-ethanol producers and farm-state advocates who see them as critical to demand for row crops.
The remark quickly circulated on social media, with journalist Aaron Rupar posting a video clip on X and drawing a parallel to a well-known incident from the 2016 Republican primary campaign, when Jeb Bush urged a relatively quiet New Hampshire audience to "please clap."
"Brooke Rollins goes full Jeb Bush: 'I think maybe due for another applause,'" Rupar wrote on X, sharing the clip via the link https://x.com/atrupar/status/2084702860726485026.
Other users echoed the comparison. "Where's the laugh track?" wrote Anthony M. Hopper, a college instructor and political commentator, on X via the link https://x.com/elander777/status/2084703157557313888.
"Please clap 2.0: now with extra awkward pauses and zero crowd energy. Jeb is proud," the parody account Conner Harley McDavidsonTM wrote on X via the link https://x.com/ConHarMcD/status/2084703233738490217.
Brooke Rollins goes full Jeb Bush: "I think may be due for another applause" pic.twitter.com/lxLWcZkhdP — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 4, 2026
