{"id":2210,"date":"2026-06-15T21:40:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T21:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2210"},"modified":"2026-06-15T21:40:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T21:40:28","slug":"ivanka-and-kai-trump-seemed-to-avoid-ufc-fighter-who-insulted-michelle-obama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2210","title":{"rendered":"Ivanka and Kai Trump seemed to avoid UFC fighter who insulted Michelle Obama"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>All of Donald Trump\u2019s family seemed to revel in having VIP seats Sunday night for the astonishing spectacle of men beating one another up in violent UFC cage fights on the White House lawn.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2208\">\u2018Toy Story 5\u2019: Tom Hanks and Tim Allen marvel at working together again<\/a><\/p>\n<p>That includes his wife, two daughters, daughters-in-law, young grandchildren and his now ubiquitous, influencer granddaughter Kai Trump. It also was reported that Ivanka Trump, Trump\u2019s oldest daughter, was directly involved in planning the controversial UFC Freedom 250 event, which was supposed to coincide with America\u2019s 250th anniversary, as well as Trump\u2019s 80th birthday, according to ESPN.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But it appears that one aspect of Trump\u2019s UFC spectacle, beneath a 600-ton steel-arch contraption called \u201cthe Claw,\u201d went too far for Ivanka and Kai Trump, as well as some of the president\u2019s most loyal supporters.<\/p>\n<p>On their social media, the former White House senior adviser and her 19-year-old niece shared plenty of plenty images of\u00a0 themselves before, during and after the event. But they did not share any photos of heavyweight Josh Hokit, who is facing widespread backlash for making a vile joke about former first lady Michelle Obama after winning his match over Derrick Lewis.<\/p>\n<p>Ivanka and Kai Trump did, however, share photos of themselves and the Trump family hanging out with new lightweight champion Justin Gaethje, who produced an upset victory over Ilia Topuria in what was billed as the headline bout of the event. On her Instagam, Ivanka Trump declared: \u201cAbsolutely epic night celebrating UFC Freedom 250 at the White House!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To be sure, it does not appear that any of the Trumps, other than the president, directly interacted with Hokit. After Hokit\u2019s win, he came to the edge of the ring, bent down and placed a medallion around Trump\u2019s neck, with White House communications adviser Margo Martin capturing the incident on social media.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Josh Hokit gifts @POTUS his chain \ud83e\udd23\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 pic.twitter.com\/506ZwmKavg<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) June 15, 2026<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Trump later congratulated Hokit and all the fighters on Truth Social for being \u201coutstanding\u201d and demonstrating such \u201chuman speed and power,\u201d the Daily Beast reported.<\/p>\n<p>Hokit sparked outrage for his victory speech to podcaster Joe Rogan. The 28-year-old fighter praised Trump for having \u201cthe (expletive)\u201d to stage such an event in front of a national landmark. After shouting out to his \u201cLord and Savior Jesus Christ,\u201d Hokit then looked directly into the camera and said, \u201cAnd lastly, Michelle Obama is a man! Am I right America?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2206\">State-of-the-art $1 billion hospital planned for Los Gatos<\/a><\/p>\n<p>CNN reported that Trump was seen smiling briefly at Hokit\u2019s remarks, while the rest of the crowd erupted into a mixture of cheers and boos, according to the Daily Beast. Right-wing conspiracy theorists have baselessly claimed for years that the former first lady is a man, the Daily Beast said. BET said that this transphobic and racist conspiracy theory has been used to attack her since she lived in the White House.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>As Hokit\u2019s words went viral, UFC CEO Dana White issued a statement to Time, slamming the insult: \u201cI understand that the Obamas are public figures, but I\u2019m completely against saying nasty and false things about people\u2019s families. Everyone knows my position on free speech, but I hate that kind of nonsense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hokit\u2019s insult also was criticized by Fox News host Jessica Tarlov and MAGA-friendly comedian Shane Gillis, who attended the Freedom 250 event. He told TMZ he \u201cdidn\u2019t love\u201d Hokit\u2019s words.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, it\u2019s hard to know the extent to which Ivanka and Kai Trump or other Trump family members went out of their way to avoid being seen with Hokit, or if they were bothered by what he said.<\/p>\n<p>But it would not have been good for either woman\u2019s brand to be photographed with a man who lobbed such a vile insult at a former first lady, and in front of the house where she once lived with her husband, daughters and mother,\u201d as the New York Times reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>At various points and to varying degrees, both Ivanka and Kai Trump have stepped in to soften Trump\u2019s public persona. They have allowed themselves to be presented as examples for why the swaggering former reality TV star should not be seen as a bully, misogynist or predator \u2014 but a family man who cares about women, children and the American people.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, it\u2019s no secret that Hokit has a history of making controversial statements, and he has previously insulted Michelle Obama in a similar way, the Daily Beast reported. Yet, \u201cdespite a history of racism and transphobia, Hokit was invited to participate in the event marking the president\u2019s 80th birthday\u201d \u2014 and the president\u2019s family eagerly joined in the celebration, according to the Daily Beast.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2204\">What\u2019s next for Chad Bianco after losing California governor\u2019s race?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Both Ivanka Trump and her influencer niece posted plenty of images from Sunday night&#8217;s controversial UFC event but none of the fighter who hurled a vile insult at the former first lady. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-things-to-do"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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