UFC President Dana White isn’t happy with YouTube’s decision to take down a recent podcast appearance by former US President Donald Trump.
White and Trump have been friends for years, stemming from Trump’s previous involvement with the UFC in the early Zuffa years when the promotion struggled to find venues for events. The UFC held events at Trump’s Taj Mahal hotel in Atlantic City, NJ for UFC 28, UFC 30, and UFC 31.
White has also been a proud supporter of Trump’s recent U.S. presidential campaigns in 2016 and 2020. He was a speaker at various rallies and conferences in support of Trump’s political aspirations.
Controversy ensued during Trump’s recent appearance on the FULL SEND podcast, and White has a strong relationship with the hosts of the show. Trump used part of his appearance to claim that the 2020 US Presidential election was stolen from him in favor of Joe Biden.
Just days after the full podcast episode was posted to YouTube, the website took it down allegedly because of Trump’s controversial remarks about the election.
In a recent appearance on Logan Paul’s IMPAULSIVE podcast, White ripped YouTube for their decision to censor Trump.
“Total crock of shit. Total crock of shit, White said. “But you saw in the podcast, Trump told them, ‘This podcast will be taken down.’ He told them that. He knew it. It’s crazy…
“The fact that Trump’s podcast with FULL SEND got taken down is fuckin’ disgusting and, more importantly, it’s scary. Very fuckin’ scary.”
The topic of cancel culture has been a hot topic in recent years. Social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook have taken controversial stances to silence people with different viewpoints, like Trump.
White went on to elaborate on why YouTube’s decision could create a bad precedent.
“First of all, you have to start looking at alternative social media platforms that don’t censor. And it’s easy (when) you got a guy that you don’t like, like Trump. ‘Oh, fuck him,’ you know what I mean? ‘Good. We don’t have to see his tweets and we don’t have to do this and that.’ Till you say something they don’t like or until somebody else says something they don’t like. This country was built on free speech, man. It’s our god-given right…
“When you have a company, or corporation, or government that can come in and fuckin’ tell you what you can and can’t say, we’re in a scary place.”
Trump has hinted at a third run for president in 2024, although it hasn’t been formally announced that he intends to run again.
As for White, he’s expected to be in attendance for the UFC’s return across the pond at the UFC London event this weekend, headlined by a heavyweight matchup between Tom Aspinall and Alexander Volkov.
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