UFC president Dana White has sparked controversy by claiming that Donald Trump cannot be racist because the former president was friends with Michael Jackson. White, 56, a longtime Trump ally, made the remarks during an interview on The New Yorker Radio Hour with editor David Remnick on May 22.
White defended Trump against accusations of racism and fascism, citing his friendship with the late pop star. “These things that he’s a racist and he’s a Nazi and he’s this and that – I mean, Donald Trump, all this stuff’s coming out now,” White said. “You know, the Michael movie just came out, and you see all these videos now popping up of Trump defending Michael Jackson and the type of person that he was and that Michael Jackson was around his children and around his family a lot.”
Remnick appeared taken aback by White’s argument and pushed back, noting Jackson’s history of child sexual abuse allegations. “But wait a minute, Dana – Michael Jackson – as talented as he was, as brilliant as he was, was a deeply, deeply flawed human being, to say the least,” Remnick said. “And was abusive [from] everything we know about him.”
White acknowledged Jackson was flawed but questioned the abuse claims. “He was abusive?” White asked. “To kids, yes. It’s terrible,” Remnick responded. Jackson faced multiple accusations of child sexual abuse, including a 1993 allegation and a 2005 criminal trial in which he was acquitted on all counts.
“I don’t know if that’s true, but I can tell you the president had a very good relationship with Michael Jackson and had Michael Jackson around his kids all the time,” White said. “And you know, defended him when that stuff was going down. So to call the guy a racist is crazy. He’s not a racist.”
Remnick also raised a controversial Truth Social post Trump shared earlier this year depicting former President Barack Obama as an ape. “If he was that type of person, I never would associate with that type of a person, no matter who he was,” White said. “But if he does that, how is he not that kind of person?” Remnick asked. “He’s not,” White replied. “I don’t know about the Obama thing, to speak on that,” White added. “I’ve never seen it. I didn’t know that. But I can tell you this: He’s not a racist. He’s not a fascist. He loves this country. And if you’re an American – race, religion, whatever it is – President Trump is on your team. That I guarantee you.”
