Nicolle Wallace blasted what she called “corporate capitulation” to President Donald Trump after fighter Josh Hokit lobbed a racist and sexist insult at former first lady Michelle Obama during the UFC Freedom 250 event on the South Lawn of the White House on Sunday.
In a post-fight interview with the event’s host, podcaster Joe Rogan, Hokit repeated a long-circulating rumor about the former first lady, falsely saying she was a man.
While UFC President and CEO Dana White condemned Hokit’s attack the following morning, telling Time magazine in a text message it was “nonsense,” Wallace remarked on the silence from the event’s many corporate backers, which she said must be “called out and covered.”
“What Trump hosted at the people’s house was a massive, massive sponsored event,” the “Deadline: White House” host said Tuesday, noting that advertisements for major companies, including Bud Light, Ram Trucks, Monster Energy and Crypto.com, were “plastered everywhere the eye could see.”