Joe Rogan conceded that the most outrageous moment from Donald Trump’s birthday UFC fight at the White House could have been easily avoided.
The Trump-friendly podcaster, who served as the master of ceremonies at Trump’s Freedom 250 event on the South Lawn of the White House, said that the UFC should have seen the vile slur against Michelle Obama coming.
“That guy, Josh Hokit,” who used his mic time to disparage the former first lady, “he’s got a shtick. Like, he’s got a character he does—The Incredible Hoke,” Rogan said on the latest episode of The Joe Rogan Experience.
“And so he’s basically like a pro-wrestling bad guy, who also is a really good fighter,” he continued. “So there’s a real problem there. This guy keeps winning.”
While Rogan sidestepped his guest Tim Dillon’s interjection that what Hokit said on the White House grounds was “crazy”—that “Michelle Obama is a man”—he said the scenario was predictable based on Hokit’s persona.
“They probably, in retrospect, if they wanted to avoid this, probably shouldn’t have had him fight on the White House lawn,” Rogan admitted. “Because if he said that at the T-Mobile Arena or in Madison Square Garden—outrageous—but not that big a deal.”
The reflection comes after Rogan remained silent following Hokit’s bizarre declaration during their televised exchange from the White House matchcage. According to CNN, Trump “appeared to show a half-smile” in response, and neither he nor Rogan has condemned the comments. The Obamas have not commented.
Despite the misstep, Rogan said the spectacle as a whole was “amazing.” In May, he revealed that he wasn’t immediately sold on the idea before he apparently came around.
“The White House thing is odd. I don’t like it,” he said then. “I just don’t think that you should compete in a world championship fight in a non-controlled environment... You wouldn’t ask them to play a world championship basketball game outside in the sun. That would be crazy.”
Rogan didn’t have the same complaints after the event, he said on Wednesday, admitting he was awestruck by the experience: “There is this moment where the UFC thing was going on, where the planes flew overhead, where it was just like, I’m like, is this even real? It was pretty amazing, like, as a piece of entertainment. It was also the only UFC card in the history of the sport, where every fight was a knockout.”
