The president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship praised President Donald Trump as an “amazing guy” and said he doesn’t care if their friendship could cost him fans.
Dana White spoke with TMZ Sports about his recent appearance at a Trump rally in Colorado Springs, explaining how it was an unplanned trip for him but he was happy to speak on behalf of his “good friend,” the president.
(Source: TMZ/YouTube)
The 50-year-old head of the mixed martial arts organization described the whole experience and being aboard Air Force One while dismissing any flack he might get from the UFC fanbase over his friendship with Trump, saying he doesn’t “give a sh**” what critics think.
“I wasn’t really campaigning. He called me and asked me if I wanted to go to Colorado,” White told TMZ.
“So we flew over to Colorado for the day and back to Vegas,” he said. “We were just hanging out, talking fights. I wasn’t even supposed to speak that day. I was just cruising over there with him.”
He shared that it was an “incredible” and “insane” experience flying on Air Force One with the president, whom he has known for over two decades.
“I can’t say it enough,” White told TMZ. “This guy, and when I say this guy I’m talking about President Trump, is such a good friend and such a loyal, amazing guy, man. He’s a great guy. He’s been a friend of mine for a long time.”
Asked if he was worried about losing fans over his friendship with the president, White replied, “I could give a sh**.”
“If you don’t like me because I’m friends with this guy, that’s your problem, not mine,” he said.
Trump introduced White at his Colorado rally last week as a “tough cookie” and a “winner.”
“I’m not a very political person,” White told the cheering crowd in his impromptu speech. “But let me say this: there’s things that I could tell you about the President of the United States that you don’t hear on TV, that you don’t hear from other people.”
(Source: Fox 10)
White noted how Trump has remained a friend even after taking office, joking that he would have understood if he never heard from him after being elected but that Trump has always remained “loyal.”
Warned about the effect his support of Trump would have on his UFC franchise even during Trump’s first election bid, White chose to speak at the 2016 Republican National Convention anyway.
During a 2018 interview with Hill.TV co-host Krystal Ball, White recounted how Trump helped re-establish the professional MMA franchise when he was a businessman.
“I would never say anything negative about Donald Trump because he was there when other people weren’t,” White said. “Any good thing that happened to me in my career, Donald Trump was the first to pick up the phone and call and say ‘congratulations.’ ”
White’s remarks to TMZ and his staunch support of the president earned him plenty of reaction on Twitter where he was lauded for not backing down.
Who helped Dana White restart the UFC?
Donald J. Trump
Who was there for Dana when no one else was?
Donald J. Trump
Who would be the first to congratulate Dana on anything?
Donald J. Trump
This speaks to how great our President is! pic.twitter.com/oFSytql59K
— Andrew Pollack (@AndrewPollackFL) February 21, 2020
Couldn’t agree more. If you don’t like someone because they’re friends with someone you don’t like. Then you are the one with the problem.
— KG (@kyle_gorniak) February 28, 2020
Good for him for having strength of character. Too many people cave to the outrage mob and apologize out of fear.
— Meredith Whitcomb (@mwhitcomb118) February 29, 2020
@Mparadise29 @HEYWALIO21 More well-known people need to take a lesson from Dana White.
— Autumn di Pace (@AutumndiPace1) February 29, 2020
Not bending a knee to the mob!!!
— Rob Rice (@RobertR32286109) February 29, 2020
WASSUUUP LEFTIES. Good luck trying to apply cancel culture to the UFC?
— henrik kruse (@henrikkruse4) February 29, 2020
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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