UFC fighter Josh Hokit grabbed Joe Rogan’s microphone after his heavyweight bout on the White House South Lawn and shouted “Michelle Obama is a man. Am I right, America?” to thousands attending President Trump’s 80th birthday celebration. The crowd responded with cheers, boos, and stunned silence. Rogan said only “Ladies and gentlemen, Josh Hokit,” and moved the broadcast along.
The moment went viral within minutes. About four weeks later, Vice President JD Vance sat down with Joe Rogan for a nearly three-hour conversation. Rogan raised the incident, asking what Vance made of Hokit’s comment about the former first lady. Vance laughed and then spent the next few minutes explaining why he thought the whole thing had been completely overblown.
What Actually Happened at UFC Freedom 250
Hokit used his post-match interview at the White House on Sunday night to insult former First Lady Michelle Obama with a transphobic and racist conspiracy theory. The insult came after he stopped Derrick Lewis via TKO in the second round of their heavyweight fight at UFC Freedom 250, held on the South Lawn for President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday weekend.
According to CNN, Hokit made the false and offensive comment while thanking President Donald Trump after his victory, saying, “And lastly, Michelle Obama is a man. Am I right, America?” The comment drew criticism, including from some Trump supporters who had defended the White House-hosted event, which was billed as part of the administration’s celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.
The “Michelle Obama is a man” claim is a transphobic and racist conspiracy theory that has been used against the former First Lady since at least 2008, weaponizing both transphobia and the misgendering of Black women, who are often targets of similar attacks. The remark received a mixed response during the fan event, prompting both boos and some laughter and cheers.
In attendance with Trump on Sunday were First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, UFC CEO Dana White, Mark Zuckerberg, Ivanka Trump, and comedians Shane Gillis and Tony Hinchcliffe. President Donald Trump was seen smiling briefly after Hokit made the remark during his post-fight speech.
Just moments before the comment, Hokit had placed a chain and pendant around Trump’s neck during his celebration. A White House pool reporter said Trump removed the chain shortly after Hokit’s interview, though it was unclear if Trump’s choice was a reaction to the comment.
Michelle Obama has addressed the conspiracy theory directly over the years, including in interviews with Oprah Winfrey and on her own podcast “IMO,” where she has spoken candidly about the racist attacks she has faced and continues to face. She has not publicly responded to Hokit’s comments.
How the White House and UFC Responded
UFC CEO and President Dana White called the remark “nasty and false,” dismissing it as “nonsense.” The White House did not follow suit. In response to an inquiry from CNN’s Jake Tapper about Hokit’s comments, White House communications director Steven Cheung said the UFC fighter “had a great win last night.”
White told Time magazine in a text message: “I understand that the Obamas are public figures but I’m completely against saying nasty and false things about people’s families. Everyone knows my position on free speech but I hate that kind of nonsense.” A UFC spokesperson directed reporters to White’s comment but did not respond when asked whether Hokit had been disciplined over the remark.
Hokit’s remark prompted dismay even among some Trump supporters who had previously defended the UFC fight. “The fighter yelling ‘Michelle Obama is a man,’ at an official White House event to honor America is utterly unacceptable and the administration should denounce it in no uncertain terms,” Fox News columnist David Marcus wrote on X.
Hokit, in response to the backlash, said he was giving the former first lady a “compliment” and refused to backtrack. Hokit told podcaster and UFC journalist Ariel Helwani: “It’s more like she knows how to deal with adversity, she knows how to work hard like a man when the times get tough. It was a perfect opportunity to show the world how great this country is with freedom of speech.”
Trump, who reportedly showed “a half-smile” in response to the comment, hasn’t personally amplified this specific Obama conspiracy but has lent his platform to other racist attacks on the couple, including posting a video clip that depicted Barack and Michelle Obama as apes.
JD Vance’s Take, and What Rogan Said About It
About four weeks after the incident, Vice President JD Vance appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience. Rogan raised the UFC incident, asking what Vance thought of Hokit’s remark about the former first lady. Vance laughed and said the reaction had been overblown. Rogan then pushed back on the remark about Obama, saying it was not “the best thing to say at the White House.”
The Daily Beast reported that Vance said “People lost their minds about it” to the point where, ahead of an appearance on The View, his communications staff were most worried about one question: what would he say about Michelle Obama being called a man. “And I was like, what?” Vance said. “An amped-up fighter told a joke after a fight.” He claimed the reaction to the slur being hurled on the White House Lawn was “totally disproportionate.”
Rogan pushed back. “Well, I kind of understand it because it’s at the White House,” he said. “First of all, a cage fight at the White House is crazy already. I mean, if he said ‘Michelle Obama’s a man’ at the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas, it’s like, OK.” He added that the comment was “not the best thing to say.”
Vance held his position. He replied: “Fair, but dude, people say stuff all the time. I work in a business where, obviously, people make life-and-death decisions all the time. And I’m always a little bit caught off guard by the culture that just overreacts.” He continued: “The worst you could say is, ‘Oh, that was an offensive comment,’ and you get on with the rest of your life. That’s the worst that you could say. The people who really flip out about it and kind of lose their minds, I just don’t understand that.”
The Tony Hinchcliffe Comparison
Vance brought up comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who opened a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City with a set replete with racial tropes, including calling Puerto Rico a “floating pile of garbage.” At the time, even many Trump allies criticized the joke.
Vance said people had similarly overreacted to those remarks. “I’m like, ‘He told a joke,’ and the person’s response is, ‘Well, it’s not a very funny joke.’ And my response to that is, ‘You know, what happens when somebody tells me a joke that’s not funny? I don’t laugh, and then I move on with my life.’ This whole industry around outrage, especially getting outraged around humor, I think is actually really hurting the country.”
Hinchcliffe’s Madison Square Garden set drew bipartisan condemnation before the 2024 election.
Rogan had previously slammed Hokit’s remark when it first happened. He said then, and again with Vance, that Hokit has his own character, his own “shtick” as a “pro-wrestling bad guy” who should not have been invited to fight if they wanted to avoid any controversy.
The Online Fallout
Vance was slammed online for his flippant take on the controversy. “When Joe Rogan has to tell you why saying Michelle Obama is a man is bad, you did something wrong,” wrote one poster on X. Another noted that “it took JD Vance a few years to realize ‘childless cat ladies’ was a mistake.” A third user wrote simply: “You’re a spineless f-king coward.”
The “childless cat ladies” reference points back to a 2024 remark Vance made in a podcast interview well before he was named as Trump’s running mate. That comment followed Vance for months and was widely cited as a political liability.
Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, who attended the White House UFC event, described Hokit’s comment as “vile and inappropriate” and said he was glad to see Dana White condemn the remarks. According to Forbes, the slur referenced a transphobic and racist conspiracy theory about the former First Lady that had been amplified by the right wing for decades, and received a mixed response from the crowd, prompting both boos and some laughter.
Dana White, a prominent Trump ally, condemned the comment. A Fox News columnist condemned the comment. Rogan, who emceed the event and has a long history of defending controversial speech, still managed to explain to the Vice President of the United States why the location changed the calculus. Vance remained unconvinced.
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