A bloodied UFC fighter lay flat on his back, arms akimbo, knocked unconscious by Josh Hokit. Hokit celebrated by draping a playing card of himself around the neck of Donald Trump on the President’s 80th birthday. Then, during a post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, Hokit grabbed the microphone and bellowed: “Michelle Obama is a MAN!” The crowd erupted in euphoria.
The scene was part of “UFC Freedom 250,” a series of mixed martial arts fights held this past weekend on the South Lawn of the White House. A specially erected, 92-foot-high fenced arena—dubbed the “Claw”—hosted the event, which also marked America’s 250th anniversary. Around 4,000 people attended, while millions watched on cable TV. For those without ringside seats, the Ellipse park offered giant screens, where vendors hawked T-shirts reading “Suck It Up, Buttercup” and “It’s No Mistake, Snowflake.”
“On his 80th birthday, Trump hosted UFC fights at the White House, where a fighter shouted 'Michelle Obama is a MAN!'”
Donald Trump, sitting at ringside alongside UFC chief executive Dana White, revelled in the display of machismo. The crowd chanted “USA, USA” as fighters punched, kicked, kneed and elbowed opponents. The event came just over a decade after the late Republican senator John McCain likened UFC to “human cockfighting” and called it “barbaric.” The sport was banned in 36 states until New York legalised it in 2016.
For some, the White House spectacle symbolised how low the cultural virtues of the United States have sunk. Simon Kelner, writing in the i Paper, described it as “individualistic, hyper-masculine and relentlessly confrontational.” A promotional video on the UFC’s official website had declared, with portentous gravity: “Great nations are judged not only by their military might or fiscal muscle. They are also defined by their cultural aspirations.” The video likened UFC fighters to America’s pioneers, asserting that the sport “is the true expression of American freedom.”
Trump’s birthday party came at a moment of national tension. The New Statesman noted that America holds its breath ahead of November’s midterm elections, with Trump’s “megalomania worsens by the day.” He has ordered the Justice Department to intensify its investigation into the 2020 election, still insisting it was stolen. After Tulsi Gabbard resigned as director of national intelligence, Trump appointed an unqualified lackey, Bill Pulte, then suddenly announced he would nominate Jay Clayton, a qualified lackey who has supported Trump’s fraud claims. The fear is that Clayton will mobilise spy agencies to persecute Trump’s perceived enemies.
If the Republicans lose their majority in November by a small handful of seats—the most likely scenario, according to the New Statesman—Trump is expected to declare a national crisis of election fraud to hold on to power. The hapless and clueless Democrats, the magazine asks, then: “What do we do?”