Evan Vucci/AP
Depending on where you were standing in Madison Square Garden last night when President Donald Trump walked in for a UFC fight, you might have heard overwhelming boos from the crowd around you. Or a smattering of cheers and applause. Or just blasting music from overhead.
However, following the deeply satisfying videos of the boos that greeted Trump’s appearance at Game 5 of the World Series last Sunday—and the wall–to–wall media coverage, including our own—determining the precise mix of boos versus cheers in the crowd is now a high-stakes feat of political analysis, and the verdicts following Trump’s UFC appearance are mixed.
Here are some videos that you can judge for yourself:
Trump has entered the building lol #UFC244 #UFC #TRUMP pic.twitter.com/DhQqiU8Z18
— Joe Mastoloni (@JJMast1) November 3, 2019
President Trump getting massively booed as he entered the Garden for #UFC244 pic.twitter.com/ZwmSxlQ4uL
— Rob Taub (@RTaub_) November 3, 2019
The crowd at MSG as Trump takes his seat for the UFC fights pic.twitter.com/9ACcWCispp
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) November 3, 2019
The president, for his part, has decided that entering the Garden was a “little bit like walking into a Trump rally,” he tweeted. “Great energy,” he added.
Walking into Madison Square Garden last night with @danawhite for the big @UFC Championship fight was a little bit like walking into a Trump Rally. Plenty of MAGA & KAG present. Great energy. Fantastic job Dana! Heading to D.C. and then to Kentucky for a big @MattBevin Rally…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2019
And, accordingly, the Fox News spin machine whirred to life this morning to guard the ego of their number-one viewer. “The president got a big reception,” Fox & Friends cohost Pete Hegseth put it. “This is a crowd that appreciates the brawler style of a brawler president.”
“There are some media outlets saying they heard mostly boos,” cohost Ed Henry chimed in. “This has become so juvenile. If you actually listen to the video and the audio, there clearly were a ton of cheers.”
Fox & Friends insists that Trump was cheered at UFC and that people saying otherwise are being juvenile pic.twitter.com/JH3epHhsAo
— John Whitehouse (@existentialfish) November 3, 2019
