Monday, June 15, 2026

DEMOCRATS SHOULD MAKE JOSH HOKIT TODAY'S MAIN CHARACTER (updated)

I've said a few times here that Democrats should focus on President Trump's failures on important issues and on anything that makes Trump and Republicans look bad, even if it's trivial -- the ballroom, Greenland, putting Trump's face on money. Today we have one key issue in each category. I'm pleased to see that some Democrats are already condemning Trump's surrender to the Iranians:
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on “Fox News Sunday” that the U.S. would be receiving “less” under a proposed deal with Iran than it got from the Islamic Republic via the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was the deal that the Obama administration negotiated to curb Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief....

“So, we have spent billions of dollars. We’ve lost 14 personnel killed in action, hundreds wounded, and we’ve disrupted the world economy. And we’re getting basically less than what we had under the JCPOA, which President Trump walked away from,” Reed told Fox News host Shannon Bream....

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, slammed the reported terms of the deal as “basically a surrender document” from Trump to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

“I mean, $100 billion of taxpayer money already put into this war, 14 Americans dead, and we get a deal that just reopens the strait that was already open before he started the war? How is that a win?” Moulton told MS NOW on Saturday.
But Democrats should also draw attention to this:
UFC heavyweight Josh Hokit sparked backlash after using his post-fight interview at the White House to repeat a false claim about former first lady Michelle Obama following his victory over Derrick Lewis on Sunday.

After defeating Lewis by technical knockout at UFC Freedom 250, Hokit thanked President Donald Trump for hosting the event before ending his interview with UFC commentator Joe Rogan by saying, “Michelle Obama is a man, am I right, America?”
He said this after praising Trump and Jesus Christ, and also making a sex joke about another fighter's mother.


The president of the United States “appeared to show a half-smile” in response to Hokit's insult, according to CNN.

I know of only one Democratic member of Congress who's condemned this, though a couple of people who aren't in office have spoken up:
Representative Melanie Stansbury, a New Mexico Democrat, wrote in a post on X, “OK, so let me get this straight…the dude who puked on himself live on TV during his weigh in, is hurling insults at the former first lady now? Disgusting. Welcome to the Trump Administration.”
Yeah, that happened:

The White House Part II - Josh Hokit showed up to the weigh-ins "drunk" and threw up on himself.

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— Raider (@iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social) June 14, 2026 at 1:04 AM

Jon Favreau, a podcast host and former speechwriter for former President Barack Obama, said, “I’m sure what happened next was a strong condemnation of the remarks from everyone else with a microphone, right?”

Former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III also criticized Hokit, writing: “Josh Hokit won the biggest fight of his career at the White House and decides to finish his interview by calling Michelle Obama a man. What a disgrace.”
Where's Hakeem Jeffries? Where's Chuck Schumer? Where's AOC? (I see nothing about this in their Twitter feeds.) I know it's relatively early Monday morning, but you don't need to ask a consultant before condemning this. Every Democrat's reaction to this should be visceral.

This is a layup. Michelle Obama is one of the most popular public figures in America. She'll never run for office, but polling from the summer of 2024 suggests that if she'd replaced Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket, she would have beaten Trump by double digits.

I think every Democrat in America should condemn Hokit (and Trump for giving him a platform), the way every Republican in America would have condemned an entertainer who accused Melania Trump of being a former escort in a show on the White House lawn. They all would have condemned the president, too. Some would have said the president should resign. They probably would have sponsored a congressional resolution condemning the remarks and dared Democrats to vote against it.

When I brought this up on Bluesky, one poster wrote:
Hokit is a nothing and a nobody. No need to give him that level of attention and notoriety.
He isn't -- he's a famous athlete -- but Republicans don't hesitate to make even ordinary people into national villains. The entire business model of Libs of TikTok is Let's find a random drag queen from Indiana and sic a Republican mob on that person because of a post that was written to amuse fifty followers. Hokit, at least, is a public figure. He intended those remarks for a mass audience.

Millions of right-wingers think "Michelle is a man" is a hilarious joke. Millions of non-right-wingers have no idea that right-wingers are so vile. It's time they learned.

Instead, liberal commentators are scolding critics of the UFC event.

I lost hope of persuading people out of social media reactions that get a lot of intra-liberal engagement but are unhelpful. Still, if you want to know how billionaires like Trump convince working class people that journalists and adjunct professors are the "elite," the UFC reactions are it.

— Amanda Marcotte (@amandamarcotte.bsky.social) June 14, 2026 at 9:42 AM

But in fact, the event seemed like a bad idea even to non-"elitists."

CNN’s Harry Enten: “The big problem with these UFC fights for Trump is that they reinforce the idea that he's out of touch with Americans. Just 16% say these fights are appropriate. Even just 31% of the GOP do. This comes as 60% of voters and 80% of independents say the White House is out of touch.”

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— Jon Cooper (@joncooper-us.bsky.social) June 14, 2026 at 2:12 PM

Ordinary people understand that there's a time and place for UFC fighting (and trash-talking), and this wasn't it. Non-Republicans also know that Michelle Obama is a woman, even if Republicans don't.

Democrats should make Republicans own this moment.

*****

UPDATE: Hakeem Jeffries weighs in:


And while I'm not a fan of AI, I'll make an exception for this, which I'd seriously consider posting if I were a member of Congress:

Posted by Steve M. at 10:32 AM

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