Joe The Plumber Dies: Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher Became Media Flashpoint After Encounter With Barack Obama
deadline.comSamuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, popularly known as Joe the Plumber after he confronted then-presidential candidate Barack Obama about taxes at a 2008 campaign rally in Toledo, Ohio, died Sunday of pancreatic cancer.
He was 49. His death was announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, by his friend, the conservative radio host Derek Hunter. “Horrible news,” Hunter wrote yesterday. “My good friend Joe Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber, passed away this morning at the age of 49 from pancreatic cancer.
He was a good man and an exceptional friend.” According to the fundraising website GiveSendGo, Wurzelbacher had recently undergone treatment for the cancer at the Ann Arbor VA Hospital and the University of Michigan Hospital.
Wurzelbacher became a media sensation and conservative activist after he approached Obama during a crowded rally to ask the candidate about a new tax plan that would target people who made more than $250,000 annually.
Read more on deadline.com