Everybody loves Nate Bargatze. Hell, I love Nate Bargatze. The clean-cut comic has built an empire on his dumb, everyman persona. He’s currently the #1 highest-grossing touring comedian. He’s hosted SNL. He just released his first movie (which, admittedly, tanked), and is a favorite of stand-up fans on both sides of the political aisle.
Bargatze himself had shied away from discussing his politics, or any politics, in public, telling Vanity Fair in 2021 that, “politics have got into everything. Comedians, movies, television. So why do you need me to do it? I don’t have a college education. I almost didn’t graduate high school… You should never vote for something I tell you to do.”
Hey, fair enough. Bargatze understands that his fans don’t need him to try to weigh in on policy. We’ve got funnier people to do that – like JD Vance. So it was a surprise to a lot of fans when he showed up at last week’s White House UFC lameapalooza. He’s now facing criticism for attending the event and appearing to buddy up with members of the administration, even posing for pictures with Secretary of Roadkill, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
And look, one can certainly make the argument that sporting events are for everybody. Spike Lee and Donald Trump both showed up at the Knicks game and nobody said boo. Rather, they yelled it, at the President.
But this wasn’t that. This was, essentially, another tiresome Trump rally—plus ring girls. Fairly or not, one’s presence at President Diaper Baby’s bouncy house pyrotechnic birthday jam signified support for the man and his minions. (He also appeared to gamely pose for photos with Trump administration figures, and even Don Jr’s new wife Bettina.) Bargatze has never endorsed Trump, or any other politician, but allowing the regime to co-opt his image is the next best thing.
During previous administrations, it was possible for entertainers to remain apart from the fray. Bob Hope, for example, entertained presidents of both parties over the decades. Even as recently as the Obama years, it would have been perfectly acceptable to have, say, Jeff Foxworthy perform at the White House.
Not so with this administration, whose callousness, corruption, and cruelty deliberately pits American against American, the same Americans Bargatze has spent his entire career trying to bring together.
Some of his fans are, predictably, upset. There are the inevitable calls for boycotting his shows, with fans lamenting that Bargatze has “torpedoed” his reputation, and over on the Site-Formerly-Known-As-Twitter, some have taken to calling him “MAGAnate,” which is maybe a play on the word “magnet” or “magnate”? It doesn’t make sense, but it doesn’t have to. People be mad!
He’s got his share of defenders, too, with many pointing out that Nate promotes his stuff on diverse networks and media platforms. He’s a guy equally at ease on Fox News and MS NOW. But this is qualitatively different than telling a few jokes for Brian Kilmeade on the morning show.
Yes, he was there for the fight not the politics. But that’s like saying you went to Jeffrey Epstein’s house to play Scrabble. It might be true, but don’t be surprised if your reputation takes a hit. Alan Dershowitz can’t even buy pierogis on Martha’s Vineyard anymore, for God’s sake!
It’s the same with Epstein’s former best friend. When you lend your likeness to him, which is exactly what Bargatze did, you are, at the very least, implicitly sympathizing with his agenda.
I get that it’s fun to watch men in short-shorts beat the shit out of each other. (Indeed, Bargatze’s first attempt at damage control was to deploy “sources” clarifying he’s just a big fan of cage matches, OK? He and his team have subsequently gone to ground entirely.) I once attended a UFC night and it was fun as hell. Senseless violence is as American as lack of health insurance. But there has to be a line. And it feels like Nate crossed it.
Of course, Nate wasn’t the only celeb there. Fellow comedians Shane Gillis and Tony Hinchcliffe—last seen at a Trump rally calling Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage”—were there, apparently after being peer-pressured into attending by Joe Rogan. So were several sports figures and business moguls. None of them are receiving the same scrutiny as Bargatze because none of the others have made the same point of staying out of politics. Nobody’s mad at Mark Zuckerberg for being there because everybody already understands he’s a dickhead.
So now Bargatze’s in the unenviable position of being in a quasi-scandal despite the fact that he didn’t do anything technically wrong. It’s not a sex scandal. It’s not even a wardrobe malfunction. Just plain old bad judgment.
I don’t know how Nate Bargatze votes. I don’t know what he believes about anything more substantive than picnics (he likes them). And maybe that’s the problem. There are moments in history when actively refusing to take sides is no different from taking one. This is such a moment. It sucks, but it’s the truth.
Bargatze could have stayed home in Nashville with his family and watched the damned thing on TV. He didn’t do that. Again, in ordinary times, there would be nothing at all wrong with a lil’ D.C. shindig. Of course, in ordinary times, there wouldn’t be a tacky-ass blood carnival on the White House lawn. Bargatze should have known better. I know he claims to be a dumb guy, but you’d think he’d be at least as savvy as Milli Vanilli.
