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.
Tim Dillon Dresses Up as Kristi Noem’s Husband
“It's hard to hide these t*ts. What do you do, put them in a box under all the Christmas decorations?” 🤣
I told the girls they could get anything they wanted at the Nike store if they got one crossword answer right…Harper got two words before she found her own last name.
Thanks for including me @nytimes!
Yesterday, Kristi Noem told the Senate that DHS's $220 MILLION taxpayer funded TV ad was competitively bid.
Today, she told the House it was a no-bid contract.
She completely contradicted herself.
How is the public supposed to trust a “leader" who lies under oath?
If there’s all these “Iranian terrorist sleeper cells” embedded in the United States, what was the point of our brave intel community spying on all of us for the last 30 years? How’d u miss all them mooslamic trrrists, heroes? Were u just watching people jerk off?
Neguse: Where is this company headquartered?
Noem: I don’t know.
Neguse: I don’t know either. We can’t find it. We did find an address that’s registered to a political operative. This company that received 143 million dollars was incorporated 8 days before this contract went out.
You want the American people to believe that this is all above board, that $143 million of taxpayer money just happened to go to this one company that doesn't have a headquarters, doesn't have a website, has never done work for the federal government before and is registered apparently or attached to a residence from a political operative, and of course one of the subcontractors of that contract, as you know, is a political firm that's tied to, to you back when you were governor of South Dakota?