W. Kamau Bell Predicts a Dark Future for Outed MAGA Comedian

W. Kamau Bell didn’t think he was performing “some sort of act of comedic bravery” when he decided to speak out against fellow comedian Nate Bargatze for attending Donald Trump’s UFC birthday party on the White House lawn.

The stand-up comic and former CNN host, who also hosts the podcast “Who’s With Me?,” considers himself a “fan” of Bargatze’s comedy, but found the move baffling. “For a guy who has talked about wanting to open an amusement park, it just seemed like a poor business decision,” Bell told Obsessed: The Podcast.

After Bargatze was photographed with MAGA luminaries like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cheryl Hines, among others, a source close to the comedian told the Daily Beast that there was nothing “political” about his presence at the event and that he is merely a big UFC fan.

Bell isn’t buying it.

“Throughout the history of the White House, going to the White House is a political decision,” Bell said. “But now it is not only a political decision, but it is a caustic and toxic decision based on what this administration is doing.”

Like Bargatze, Bell, who won three Emmy Awards for his CNN series United Shades of America, admitted that he “used to be a huge UFC fan.”

“So I relate in the sense that this is a thing that I loved,” he explained. “And there’s a version of this where I might have felt like I should go.” But that was before the sport became so synonymous with MAGA politics, mostly thanks to figures like Joe Rogan and UFC boss Dana White, who both helped Trump reach young male voters in 2024.

At this point, Bell said he probably wouldn’t even attend a regular UFC match. “But then when you put it at the White House, at Donald Trump’s house, there is no way I’m going,” he added.

So far, at least, Bargatze’s alignment with Trump has not had any perceptible impact on his bottom line—despite scores of “fans” claiming on social media that they planned to boycott his upcoming live shows.

But for Bell, Bargatze’s refusal to actively distance himself from the Trump administration begs a fundamental question: “Does Nate actually want to be a MAGA comedian?”

“I’ll say this, his accountant doesn’t want him to be a MAGA comedian,” Bell said, predicting that his new right-wing brand will ultimately “hurt Nate’s bottom line, because he’s bigger than every MAGA comedian.”

Bargatze had the highest-grossing comedy tour of 2025, bringing in $56.7 million across just 76 shows.

“There’s nothing he’s going to gain from losing people who are like, I just think that guy’s funny,” Bell continued. “He cuts across race and ethnicity and religion and socioeconomic background and politics. So why would you suddenly put that in a box?”

With this in mind, Bell added, “If anything, Nate, this is me trying to help you. Who are the people around you who are supposed to say, don’t do that? Whether that’s your politics or not, that’s not a good business decision for you, Nate. It’s not good. It doesn’t help your brand in any way.”

While his “clean” comedy style is very different from the shock-value approach of comedians like Tony Hinchcliffe or Andrew Schulz, who have thrived in the Trump era, it is still possible that Bargatze gets pushed in that direction if half the country rejects him.

“I have not watched Tony Hinchcliffe’s new special, but I’m not hearing great things,” Bell said, adding that while there may be a “short-term benefit” to being MAGA’s favorite comedian at this moment, he doesn’t think it “lasts over time.”

Of course, Hinchcliffe was also at Trump’s UFC birthday bash, but his presence did not garner a fraction of the attention that Bargatze’s did.

“Well, I mean, Tony Hinchcliffe has basically made himself a henchman to Donald Trump’s Joker,” Bell joked. “Why wouldn’t he be there?”

W. Kamau Bell’s Substack and podcast are both called “Who’s With Me?”