On an election night as bleak as it was long, Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO and hardcore Trump supporter Dana White used his stage time at the Trump victory rally to paint an especially grim vision of the future.
There was a palpable joy at the Trump headquarters in the early hours of Wednesday morning as polls nationwide all but guaranteed a Trump victory. Trump brought what looked like his entire team onstage during his nearly 3 a.m. victory speech, even giving White the floor for an outlandish speech in which he heaped praise on Trump.
“This is what happens when the machine comes after you. What you’ve seen over the last several years, this is what it looks like,” said White. “Couldn’t stop him, he keeps going forward, he doesn’t quit, he’s the most resilient, hardworking man I’ve ever met in my life.… This is karma, he deserves this.”
White went on to shout out major manosphere influencers, many of whom are thought to have had a direct impact on the men who voted for Trump.
“I want to thank the Nelk Boys, Adin Ross, Theo Von, Bussin’ With the Boys, and last but not least, the mighty and powerful Joe Rogan.”
Adin Ross’s streams have been a safe place for sexism and general, lowbrow bigotry for some time now. The 24-year-old has been banned from Twitch eight separate times for using a homophobic slur and for “hateful conduct.” Earlier this year, Trump joined Ross’s livestream, per Barron Trump’s suggestion, and was gifted a Rolex live on stream. The Nelk Boys have similarly used their podcast to platform right-wing demagogues like Tucker Carlson to young men. Theo Von and Bussin’ With the Boys are slightly tamer versions of these acts. And the infamous Joe Rogan is the forefather of them all.
This strange lineup of famous podcasters with dubious ties to the alt-right is just a sign of how dangerous and unserious a future Trump Cabinet could be.
