One of Bernie Sanders' Biggest Supporters Is a Rooster Named Mr. Clucky
— MANCHESTER, N.H. -- As the socialist senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders attracts lots of unique fans. But not all of them have a Bernie Bus.
For months, Martin Buckley has been riding “the 101” -- a powder-blue bus decked out in American flags, Bernie Sanders signs and Christmas tree branches -- up and down the East Coast in support of his favorite candidate.
“It’s a 1992 handicapped children’s bus from Ohio,” he said while giving ABC News a tour. The bus runs entirely on vegetable oil, which “smells like vanilla cake when it first starts up.”
As Sanders supporters chanted outside the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s Jefferson-Jackson Dinner on Sunday, Buckley ticked off items he had brought on board: a funeral organ, a 40-gallon water tank hidden inside a London steamer trunk, a counter acting as "Constitution Cafe," doors to act as bunk beds, and solar panels on the roof, which doubles as a stage for demonstrations.
Oh, and a 9-year-old rooster.
“This is my co-pilot, Mr. Clucky,” Buckley said, taking his feathered friend out of its cage behind the driver’s seat. “He loves to ride his bicycle.”
He said that’s how they met -- while riding around Miami Beach, Buckley found the rooster wounded in the street. He quickly found that Mr. Clucky enjoyed riding with him on his bike, and they started doing regular public appearances together.
“He’s done a lot of TV -- National Geographic, Animal Planet,” he said. “He’s a pretty famous little rooster.”
The two plan to attend more Bernie Sanders events, even through the cold New Hampshire winter.
“I paid a hundred bucks for the wood stove,” he said. “It was toasty in here [last night]. I had to keep some windows open. You put some logs in there, it warms it up pretty good.”
That hundred dollars, he added, was the only money he spent on the bus’s elaborate interior, in which he has spent up to three months at a time.
“Everything in this bus has been found,” he said, including his trusty co-pilot.
As the crowds continued to chant outside, Mr. Clucky broke through with an ear-piercing crow.
“He woke me up at four in the morning,” Buckley said sheepishly, putting a hand to his forehead.
