Donald Trump is dancing as the Middle East burns.
The 79-year-old president tried out his favorite moves with boxer Jake Paul after meeting the YouTuber at a rally in Kentucky on Wednesday.
Paul, 29, interviewed Trump backstage after telling the MAGA crowd about the importance of having courage and “swag.”
The unlikely pair then posted a video on TikTok, where Paul has 19.5 million followers, teasing the sitdown.
The 10-second video saw Trump and Paul awkwardly dancing backstage to the Village People’s 1978 disco hit Y.M.C.A.
The song, originally a LGBTQ anthem, has been adopted by the MAGA movement after being used at Trump rallies over the past decade. The track’s singer and co-writer, Victor Willis, admitted there are “financial benefits” after the frequent Republican exposure and has no issue with the Trump connection.
Some TikTok commenters noted that Paul and Trump appeared to be the same height in the video. Paul is 5-foot-11, while Trump claims to be 6-foot-3.
Others called out Paul’s link to Trump, with comments including “unfollowed”, “this better be A.I” and “After the (Epstein) files? Really.”
Paul is a former Disney Channel star who is one of the highest-paid creators on YouTube, with a lucrative sideline as a boxer. He has been involved in a number of controversies and in 2021 was accused of sexual misconduct, a claim he denied.
On MS NOW, Chris Hayes called out Trump for spending time with the influencer as the fallout from his Middle East war spreads.
At least one crew member was killed on Wednesday when two foreign oil tankers were hit in the Persian Gulf by Iranian drones, soon after Trump claimed the Strait of Hormuz—the narrow sea route from the Gulf that carries a fifth of the world’s oil—was “in great shape.”
The death toll in Iran is now over 1,200 people killed by U.S. and Israeli strikes, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, while 13 have died in Israel and six in the United Arab Emirates as Iran fired back. Israeli strikes have killed 570 in Lebanon.
Seven U.S. service members have been killed in retaliatory strikes from Iran, and at least 140 others wounded.
“So amid all the chaos and death, how did our wartime president spend the afternoon?” MS NOW host Hayes asked on Wednesday.
“By palling around with internet personality and aspiring boxer Jake Paul in Kentucky. And of course, dancing to the Y.M.C.A. At least he’s having fun, right? He’s having a good time. He seems to be enjoying himself.”
Hayes added, “That’s how the commander-in-chief is behaving during the war of choice he started, the region literally on fire.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
