President Donald Trump was cheered by fans as he entered the arena at Madison Square Garden in New York City for UFC 244 — but there were also boos.
Videos by fans showed the response to Trump, such as the following:
Here is President Trump entering MSG for UFC 244. 📽 @jasonrubin91 pic.twitter.com/AVbbFHk6Av
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) November 3, 2019
Early mainstream media reports focused on the fact that there were boos, as did Trump’s critics on social media:
Trump booed at UFC event in New York City https://t.co/jllDBq61vu pic.twitter.com/Mz17ToF02r
— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 3, 2019
WATCH: Trump greeted with heavy booing in Madison Square Garden at UFC 244 https://t.co/LhrCbwlt9T pic.twitter.com/clH5IQ292c
— The Hill (@thehill) November 3, 2019
As Trump gets loudly booed again, it's worth noting that the average UFC viewer is a 49-year-old male (https://t.co/Y5V66Ur1Gi). That's actually one of his better demographics.
Maybe he should get outside his MAGA rally bubble a bit more to see what people really think of him.
— Chris Lu (@ChrisLu44) November 3, 2019
However, the New York Post reported, there were more cheers than boos:
More cheers than boos greet President Trump at UFC 244 at MSG https://t.co/prWFvWFbSN pic.twitter.com/qfCQQjs1eK
— New York Post (@nypost) November 3, 2019
The Post story noted that Trump received “more cheers than boos,” and “had very vocal supporters inside and outside the World’s Most Famous arena.”
Donald Trump, Jr. retweeted the Post article, with a snide comment — and his tweet was retweeted by the president himself. President Trump also tweeted a photo taken at the event by Eric Trump that reported chants of “Donald Trump” and “USA”:
Despite the bullshit from blue checkmark Twitter, when we walked into the arena it was overwhelmingly positive. @danawhite said it was the most electrifying entrance he seen in 25 years of doing this. @ufc https://t.co/62dAdDimGD
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) November 3, 2019
At #UFC244 – chanting “Donald Trump, Donald Trump… USA USA” pic.twitter.com/hiqKCw3cS9
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) November 3, 2019
The Post also reported that supporters and opponents of the President both gathered outside the arena — and that supporters outnumbered opponents, two-to-one.
Trump supporter crowd grows as Trump arrives in NYC for UFC game pic.twitter.com/GkUrAGv6s2
— Jewish Deplorable 🇺🇸 (@TrumpJew) November 3, 2019
Trump and his family were at the event for the main attraction, the fight for the title of “BMF” (“Baddest Motherf**ker”), between Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz.
Masvidal had praised Trump earlier in the week:
UFC title contender Jorge Masvidal: No matter what your views are on Trump as president, the guy's a bad mother fu*ker man😎 pic.twitter.com/rboFCFvMxK
— Wojciech Pawelczyk 🇵🇱🇺🇸 (@PolishPatriotTM) October 31, 2019
“No matter what your views are on Trump as a president, the guy’s a bad mother f*ucker, man,” Masvidal said. “The money that he’s made, the obstacles that he’s conquered — he’s a bad mother f*cker in his own way, you know, no matter what your political views are.”
Trump and his family are long-standing UFC fans. Donald Trump, Jr. and Eric Trump both watched Colby Covington — a proud Trump supporter — win a fight in August.
Other Republicans joined Trump at the fight, including House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Rep. Pete King (R-NY).
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He earned an A.B. in Social Studies and Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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