CM Punk's 'a racist is a racist' remark resurfaces after White House UFC event

Sunday night's UFC Freedom 250 event was attended by several high-profile guests, including the CEO of WWE, Paul "Triple H" Levesque, and WWE Superstar Roman Reigns. However, one wrestling star and former UFC fighter, Phil "CM Punk" Brooks, wasn't expected as he had declined the offer "years ago." As the electrifying event marking President Donald Trump's 80th birthday concluded with some controversy, a clip from 2018 of Punk rejecting a White House invite, calling Trump a "racist," went viral. 

Both Reigns and Levesque were among the attendees of the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House, confirmed by the images and videos of the two at the event that soon spread on social media. Reigns even reposted an X (Twitter) message from TKO Group about his appearance. Amid the hype, the clip of Punk from a FanSided MMA interview resurfaced, where he openly rejected the notion of him attending a UFC fight at the White House. 

In the interview, Brooks, who was fighting in the UFC 225 event at the time, was asked about a hypothetical invitation to the White House, as Trump had long proposed the idea. "Number one: I would not be invited. Number two: No, I would not go," Brooks replied. When pressed about why he won't go, the WWE superstar said, "If David Duke invites me over for tacos, I'm not going to David Duke's house, you know what I mean? Come on, I call it like I see it. A racist is a racist," he said, referring to Trump. "I don't care if you're in the White House or you live down the street from me. Like, I'm not hanging out with you." 

Throughout his political career, Trump has repeatedly made comments that have been widely condemned as racist and xenophobic. Even an incident unrelated to Trump at the UFC Freedom 250 event had racist connotations. After winning the fight, the winner of the heavyweight bout, Josh Hokit, made a controversial comment about the former first lady. "Michelle Obama is a man. Am I right, America?"

Even Trump, who has not addressed Hokit's comments, has long made disparaging remarks about the Obamas. Earlier this year, he faced backlash, including from some Republicans, after posting a video that depicted former president Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as apes on Truth Social. The White House initially defended the video, calling it an "internet meme" and the backlash "fake outrage," while blaming the post on a staff member before taking it down.

Trump, who didn't apologize, said he condemned the racist parts of the video but thought it depicted the Obamas as characters of the popular Disney film, "The Lion King". He claimed he didn't see the wrongful parts, and it wasn't his fault. "I didn't make a mistake," he told reporters when asked whether he planned to apologise, as per the BBC.