Dana White: The UFC Is Not Pro Republican – ‘I Would Treat Biden The Same’
Dana White has dismissed suggestions that the UFC is a pro-Republican Party organization.
White has faced this claim due to his close relationship with Donald Trump. The CEO of the UFC has spoken at the RNC on three occasions. He did this in 2016, 2020 and this year. This year’s convention was particularly noteworthy as it followed after an assassination attempt on Trump. White praised Trump for his bravery before endorsing him for the Presidency.
White and Trump have also been pictured at several UFC events. The most recent one was at UFC 302 when Islam Makhachev defeated Dustin Poirier via a fifth-round submission. Their relationship goes back a long way, to when Trump helped the UFC with some venues in Atlantic City.
White On Republicans
Dana has also stated that he turned down sponsors who wanted him to remove a video from his social media showing support for Trump. He recently stated that he believes Trump is more qualified for the Presidency than Kamala Harris. This has created the narrative that he is pro-Republican. White rejected those claims, saying he would treat Biden the same way.
“You see how the crowd reacts to [Donald Trump attending fights]? Off the charts. If [Joe] Biden came to a UFC event, I would treat Biden the same way! If Biden was there, we would cover the fact that the President of the United States… or if [Barack] Obama, [George] Bush, any of those guys ever came to an event, we would treat them with the same respect. If a former or standing president of the United States shows up to your event, you show them the respect…
“It’s just like the thing that happened with Trump with the assassination attempt. If someone attempted to assassinate Biden, or any former president of the United States, I would be…disgusted by it. Just like I was with the attempt on Trump’s life. I’m an American, and whoever is the president of the United States, is my president…Biden’s granddaughter was [at UFC 295], I went to try to meet her.. but when Trump was coming, she left, which sucks. I would’ve liked to have met her. I don’t judge people by their politics, and I don’t play any of those…games that people play with politics,” White said
White’s Controversy
White has also faced scrutiny after suggestions the UFC prevented Belal Muhammad from walking with a Palestinian flag into the Octagon for his fight with Leon Edwards at UFC 304. Belal would end up winning, as he dominated Edwards to become the new UFC Welterweight Champion. There were suggestions that White was not best pleased with Belal winning. Meanwhile, one reporter questioned White over the alleged dispute over a flag, something which the CEO of the UFC shut down.
“No, you’re a douchebag. You could’ve pulled anybody from the [UFC] PR team aside and said, ‘I have a question, ‘Why was this [flag pulled], whatever.’ And if the PR team said, ‘Well, we couldn’t.’…then you say, ‘Hey…..’ No, that guy is that…guy. Good try trying to…defend him,” White stated
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