The UFC event at the White House on Donald Trump’s birthday is “as corrupt a MAGA event as there could possibly be,” a top political commentator alleges.
David Rothkopf tells The Daily Beast Podcast that the president’s 80th birthday occasion, which coincides with Flag Day, should be viewed as a state-sponsored promotion of the mixed martial arts organization, with Paramount also benefiting.
“The last time [Trump] thought that he had a peace deal with Iran, he went to a UFC event in Miami with Marco Rubio. And here we are again, another peace deal brewing,” Rothkopf, the Daily Beast’s chief global affairs correspondent, told co-host Joanna Coles. “But this thing is different, because it’s incredibly corrupt.”
Rothkopf noted how much the government has paid to put on the event: $60 million. That’s according to court documents filed in response to a lawsuit challenging the legality of the event, claiming the National Park Service unlawfully approved it and that federal landmarks like the White House cannot be used for private, for-profit spectacles.
“There’s a big advertisement right in the middle of it for Monster Energy, an energy drink,” Rothkopf continued. “If there was ever a White House that has monster energy, it’s this White House.”
Other ads in and on the octagon include Bud Light and Polymarket.
Trump, Rothkopf continued, is “giving big benefits to sponsors and donors and others, and somebody is making money on this. This is for profit. The UFC, which is run by his friend, Dana White, the UFC is controlling the PR for this, not the White House Press Office."
The event comes a few days after the Trump administration, and the UFC signed a memorandum of agreement that the State Department would use the company for diplomatic purposes.
Paramount’s role should also be questioned, Rothkopf said.
“Paramount, the broadcasting company owned by the Ellisons—who are his buddies—are controlling the TV rights to this,“ Rothkopf said, referring to tech billionaire Larry and his son, David. “This is as corrupt a MAGA event as there could possibly be. And it’s also gross.“
“What Trump is giving the United States for its 250th birthday is humiliation, because this is humiliating,” Rothkopf said. If any other country did what Trump is doing, it would spur immediate ridicule, he added.
Reached for comment, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told the Daily Beast, “David Rothkopf is a far-left loser who clearly suffers from a severe and debilitating disease known as Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted his peanut-sized brain.”
In addition to being the subject of an ethics lawsuit, the UFC event is accused of violating the U.S. flag code, since Octagon Girls will be wearing flags as part of their outfits.
The flag code states that the stars and stripes “should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding or drapery,” and that the flag should never “be used as a costume or athletic uniform.”
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