Joe Rogan had to explain to Vice President JD Vance why the slur hurled at former first lady Michelle Obama during Trump’s White House lawn cage match was a big deal.
Vance caught the podcaster off guard during the Wednesday episode of The Joe Rogan Experience by laughing off the shocking words from UFC star Josh Hokit.
The host talked through some of the fighting moves made by Hokit, 28, the UFC fighter who used his victory-speech remarks to shout “Michelle Obama is a man” into Rogan’s microphone. The White House has not condemned the remarks, nor has Rogan, though the host has repeatedly said he understands why the slur received so much attention.
Vance, on the other hand, said he didn’t see the problem.
“I just could not believe that dude held out for like 30 seconds,” Vance said, recalling a moment from the cage match.
“Was that more shocking than when he said Michelle Obama is a man?” Rogan asked, bringing up the topic.
Vance replied, “Definitely the armbar part,” after which both men laughed. “I work in politics. People say crazy stuff all the time,” Vance added.
“People lost their minds about it,” Vance continued. “Lost their minds about it to the point where, again, I had The View either the next day or the day after to sort of promote this book… to the point where all of my comms people, the thing they were most worried about was, ‘They’re going to ask you about Michelle Obama being called a man. What are you going to say about it?’ And I was like, what? An amped up fighter told a joke after a fight.”
Vance claimed the reaction to the slur being hurled on the White House Lawn was “totally disproportionate.”
At the time Hokit made the comment, CNN reported that Trump was “seen smiling briefly.” Rogan, who was in the ring to serve as UFC Freedom 250’s master of ceremonies, said only, “Ladies and gentlemen, Josh Hokit,” when Hokit finished his remarks.
Since then, Rogan argued that the White House should have known what it was getting into by inviting Hokit to fight at the event, and stopped short of condemning the comment outright. Still, even he did not act as oblivious as Vance on Wednesday, as the vice president insisted he was “still shocked” that people were “really fired up about it.”
“Well, I kind of understand it because it’s at the White House,” Rogan said. “First of all, a cage fight at the White House is crazy already. I mean, if he said, ‘Michelle Obama’s a man’ at the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas, it’s like, OK.” He added that the comment was “not the best thing to say.”
Replied Vance, “Fair, but… dude, people say stuff all the time. I work in a business where, obviously, people make life-and-death decisions all the time. And I’m always a little bit caught off guard by the culture that just overreacts.”
Vance went on, “The worst you could say is, ‘Oh, that was an offensive comment,’ and you get on with the rest of your life. That’s the worst that you could say. The people who really flip out about it and kind of lose their minds—I just don’t understand that.”
