US President Donald Trump celebrated his 80th birthday with a brutal display of political machismo on Sunday, June 14, turning the White House lawn into an arena for a bloody evening of cage fights.
In unprecedented scenes in the revered seat of American democracy, sat with thousands of cheering fans as Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) combatants beat each other to a pulp.
However, as the fighters for the evening’s top-billed bout clashed, a video of President Trump allegedly falling asleep mid-event in the cage-side seat next to UFC boss Dana White is going viral on social media.
In the viral clip, Trump appeared drowsy with his eyes closed, leaning slightly towards White. “Trump fell asleep at UFC Freedom 250 on the White House lawn, his 80th birthday event,” the caption of the viral post read.
Here’s how netizens reacted:
Social media users mocked Donald Trump for sleeping at “his own party” and drew parallels to his White House predecessor, Joe Biden.
“He is such a brave soul, he spends all his time and energy for his country. You should know how great a person he is, he is an amazing leader… yeah, those are the words that you can whisper to wake up this sleepy old man,” a user said sarcastically.
“That’s like being the guest of honour at your own party and deciding the most exciting thing to do is take a nap,” said another user.
A netizen said, “ will tell you it’s because he works hard all day. BS!” “Trump is a disgrace to the presidency,” another netizen slammed.
“UFC crowd finally found a fighter strong enough to take him out… it was sleep,” joked a user. “Sleepy Joe becomes sleepy Donald,” said another.
However, a few supporters said, “Trump out here catching a power nap at his own 80th bday UFC bash Bro’s earned the snooze, leave the man alone!”
“Lol, even the GOAT needs a quick power nap mid-fight night,” said another supporter.
UFC Freedom 250
The “UFC Freedom 250” event, supposed to kick off this year’s festivities for the 250th anniversary of US independence, took place at the White House just hours after Trump had sealed a long-awaited peace deal with Iran.
US fighter Justin Gaethje stunned Spanish-Georgian Ilia Topuria to take the lightweight championship in the main event. Gaethje was declared the winner after Topuria’s face was so badly beaten that he could not continue.
Afterwards, Trump and First Lady Melania entered the blood-spattered “Octagon” cage to congratulate a jubilant Gaethje, who wished the president a happy birthday.
“Beyond anything you could imagine,” Trump told reporters.
At the event, fighter Josh Hokit launched into an astonishing attack on a former first lady, shouting into the microphone in front of Trump: ” is a man, am I right, America?”
A series of UFC combatants paid tribute to the president after winning, in the style of Roman gladiators, with two of them hailing him for having the “balls” to stage the fight.
‘UFC at WH was incredible’: Trump
“The UFC at the White House last night was incredible… The White House has never looked more beautiful. The setting was unsurpassed!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Monday morning, praising the fighters and congratulating the UFC boss.
“The weather was scheduled to be horrendous, and it turned out to be PERFECT! So much for weather predicting.”
