Dear Joe,
I wish I could sit down with you face to face and explain why so many of us were offended by the UFC fight on the South Lawn of the White House.
For me, it had nothing to do with the UFC or who showed up for the fights. The brand you and Dana have built is a bona fide American success story. More power to you. As for the fighters, in my book, anyone brave enough to put it all on the line in the arena is remarkable to witness. Their dedication and discipline inspire me. I don’t understand anyone who can’t admire that.
And as for the people who attended, I, for one, love Shane Gillis. I think he’s hilarious and brilliant. It was a show. A once-in-a-lifetime spectacle. I can’t blame anyone for wanting to witness it firsthand.
My problem is that I believe some of our public spaces are sacred. And unlike many of the great powers that came before us, these American monuments belong to all of us. Not to whoever happens to hold power at the moment.
The White House does not belong to Donald Trump. It does not belong to any President. It belongs to the people. To treat it as Caesar treated the Colosseum is antithetical to everything our founding fathers fought for.
This is not Rome. Presidents are not emperors doling out bread and circuses for the peasants. The White House is the People’s House. This “celebration” could have happened in any stadium within a stone’s throw of the South Lawn. No one would have had an issue with it.
But that was obviously Donald Trump’s whole point. By holding the event on the South Lawn, what he was saying to the rest of us is:
“This is my house. I own it. I will do with it what I please. I’ll build a colosseum and have the gladiators fight under my gaze. I’ll tear down the East Wing. I’ll pave over the Rose Garden. I’ll cover everything in gold and marble. I’ll erase the names of all the men who came before me.”
The fights were an exhibition of imperial domination, not a celebration of our 250th anniversary as a democracy.
The White House is not Buckingham Palace. It is not the Palace of Versailles. It is not the Forbidden City of Beijing. It does not belong to an emperor, or a king, or a commissar.
The White House belongs to us. All of us. The person who sits behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office is nothing more than an honored guest. A temporary caretaker.
The President is our servant. Not our Caesar.
Respectfully, Hunter
P.S. Cage match between me and Don Jr.? Your call on the venue. Anywhere but the South Lawn.
The Obama Presidential Center is finally opening!
Tune in today on https://t.co/GYkEOK8EuT starting at 11am CT as Michelle and I share what this moment means to us and celebrate with friends, family, and members of the community in Chicago.
Markwayne Mullin had the FDA delete warnings about the dangers of kratom, an addictive and sometimes lethal drug found in gas stations.
Mullin holds an up to $1 million stake in a major kratom company.
I am not ok.
I am not doing good at all.
My beautiful country is being systematically destroyed by a very obvious criminal and we all are fighting each other over it.
People are dying because of their smile, their color, their being poor, their being born female and this shit is getting worse.
Police out of control and becoming judge, jury and executioner all at once and innocent lives are lost for it and NOTHING IS BEING DONE ABOUT IT!
America is going bankrupt by a six time bankrupting murdering pedo and NOTHING IS BEING DONE ABOUT IT
Our own constitutional rights are being trampled on AND
NOTHING
IS
BEING
DONE
ABOUT
IT
It's only Tuesday and Trump has fucked up a pool for $14 Million, lost a war agreeing to pay Iran $300 Billion, and ballooned his already expensive ballroom budget by another $200 Million.
Where are the Republicans screaming about "waste, fraud and abuse"?
Happily married "MAGA to the core" influencer @craiglong45 was arrested during a human trafficking/prostitution sting in Florida this past May.
Craig is apparently friends with President Trump.
What's that saying? Birds of a feather....
So the ballroom is a fiasco, the reflecting pool is a fiasco, the Iran war is a fiasco—the Trump administration is a fiasco.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
They told JD in the situation room, that trump mutilated a minor’s nipples during a rape. What did JD say? Jonathan Swann and Maggie Haberman have the recording of that moment. NY Times, release it now. This is a national security blackmail crisis. “NippleGate” must be exposed.
The performers for the Obama Presidential Library opening on June 18 have been announced:
Stevie Wonder
John Legend
Jennifer Hudson
The Roots
Bruce Springsteen
Christina Aguilera
Marsai Martin
Common
U2’s Bono and The Edge
Eddie Vedder
Marc Anthony
Tems
At the G7, a disoriented Trump begins wandering off until Macron raises his voice to get his attention — and then points him in the right direction. Trump looks bloated, miserable, unsteady, and sickly. The look in his eyes is one of total confusion.
This is what it looks like in front of the Lincoln Memorial now after Trump’s Birthday Party. Who’s paying to clean this mess up because we know it’s not the UFC!