Dave Portnoy has told Donald Trump to intervene and distance himself from UFC fighter Josh Hokit, who shouted ‘Michelle Obama is a man’ in his post-fight interview at Sunday’s UFC match at the White House.
Hokit was being interviewed by Joe Rogan in the octagon moments after he beat Derrick Lewis in the second round of their fight, with the President watching on as part of his 80th birthday celebrations.
‘Shout out to Trump for having the b***s to put this s**t on,’ Hokit shouted. If I’m going to say anything, there’s only one person more incredible than the incredible hulk, and that’s my lord and savior, Jesus Christ.’
He then ended his speech by yelling: ‘And lastly, Michelle Obama is a man. Am I right, America?’
The morning after the event Portnoy, who voted for Trump at the last election, has called for the President to distance himself from Hokit and said that the incident tarnished an otherwise successful event.
‘There was one moment I do think Trump has to denounce,’ Portnoy said. ‘And that’s that crazy fighter guy, I don’t even have his name up here, he won the fight, he took the microphone and he made a derogatory comment about Michelle Obama.
Dave Portnoy has called on Donald Trump to denounce Josh Hokit’s Michelle Obama slur
The comment concerning her gender is a conspiracy theory typically used by right-wing antagonists against Obama
Hokit is seen here being interviewed by Rogan, he made the remark about Michelle Obama following his win over Derrick Lewis
‘To me, that, on the White House lawn, now these are UFC guys, right? They are crazy. They are idiots.
‘But when you have that on the White House lawn on an event you put down, I don’t care what you think about the Obamas or anything. That has to be an immediate denounce. Like, wrong, doesn’t speak for me.
‘I have no problem with the event. I guess you run that risk because these guys are lunatics. But that was the only thing.
‘Trump should denounce it, (say) “that was totally wrong”. The event itself, listen, the troops seemed to love it, all the people there seemed to love it. I think you’re crying over spilled milk if you are upset about the actual event.
‘But that comment, if you are going to do it, own it and be like “that was wrong and should never happen”‘.
CNN reported that Trump was spotted showing a ‘half smile’ after Hokit made the remark as a mixture of cheers and boos were heard.
The Daily Mail has contacted a representative for Obama for comment.
The official UFC X page shared an eight second clip of his post-fight interview but cut the moment he spoke about Obama.
Trump is seen here being gifted a chain by Hokit following his UFC win at the White House
Trump praised the success of the event in the aftermath of the show at the White House
It’s not the first time Hokit has hurled the insult.
At a UFC event in January, he also called WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner a man. Griner was also taken prisoner in Russia in February 2022 for nearly 10 months after she was arrested for having vape cartridges with oil derived from cannabis in her backpack.
She was freed in a prisoner swap with Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, the so-called ‘Merchant of Death’ in a deal Trump was deeply critical of.
At the time, UFC CEO Dana White said of the Griner slur: ‘I heard about it. I didn’t see it, I don’t love it.’
While Trump has not commented on the recent remarks, he was thrilled with how the event had gone.
‘Beyond anything you could imagine,’ Trump, who is heading straight to the G7 summit in France, told reporters when asked how the evening went.
