Construction on the Ultimate Fighting Championship Octagon is underway on the White House South Lawn ahead of President Donald Trump’s planned fights this summer to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States.
The event, dubbed "UFC Freedom Fights 250," will take place on June 14 -- coinciding with the president’s birthday and Flag Day -- and feature a lightweight title matchup between undisputed champion Ilia Topuria and interim title holder Justin Gaethje alongside four other fights.
How the actual fuck can you tie in a cage match fight system to the anniversary of the United States' "birthday" that was the Declaration of Independence???
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| photo by Mark Schiefelbein (AP Photo) |
Look at how much of an eyesore that stage is going to be, dwarfing the White House itself.
In all the years that the White House has stood - since the later days of the John Adams' administration - there has never been a spectacle like this staged on the property: It's not like there's a long history of boxing fights (Teddy Roosevelt himself was an avid boxer until he got blinded: then he switched to judo) or music concerts being performed there (most concerts are better staged on the Mall just down the way).
trump is doing this because he's enamored of - and probably has money in - the UFC organization, showing up at various fights over the years the way celebrities would at boxing championship nights. It also ties into the whole "alpha male" machismo identity - the open misogyny, the willingness to delve into toxic behaviors - that trump and his lackeys crave.
trump may really believe that this event would somehow promote the "American Way" of manhood, fighting, and success: ignoring how few people - about 3.3 million per average viewership for UFC fights, compared to 125 million who watched Super Bowl LX - may actually tune in. If he's expecting a large in-person turnout - they're talking about 75,000 to 100,000 people showing up - I doubt the locals in DC are going to show up at a trump-sponsored event, and uncertain about how many will travel all that way to be there (only 5,000 or so showed up for trump's riot on January 6th, and barely half of that actually raided the Capitol).
This shouldn't be how America should be celebrating it's 250th year of existence.
This is going to be a grotesque display of violence that only the sadists like trump enjoy.
Don't tune in. Don't watch this circus of stupidity. Look away.
Find better ways to honor America, like protesting at ICE facilities or getting out the vote in Red states to flip them Blue.
1 comment:
The supposedly free tickets are actually selling, in some cases, for millions of dollars, and nobody will say who is getting that money.
-Doug in Sugar Pine
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