Jemele Hill says UFC event at White House was ‘patriotic’ and lacked ‘diversity’

Surprise, surprise, Jemele Hill didn’t like the UFC 250 Freedom event at the White House. Who would have thought that a person whose entire career is built on criticizing anything associated with the “right wing” would deny an event hosted by Donald Trump?

TMZ conducted an interview with Hill, who said the UFC event does not represent “the best of America.”

“If this is supposed to represent the best of America, what about this representing the best of America?” he said.

While he praised the “great celebration” of veterans, which the event did, he said the patriotism parade and displays celebrating America’s 250th anniversary were “glorious” and “narcissistic.” And that, to him, was more of a “Trump rally” than a national festival.

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“But if you look at the context of what this is supposed to mean, everything about this felt complicated, it felt absurd, it was like a Temu WrestleMania to me,” he said. “And I don’t know if that’s a fair representation of America, and especially this game. Because look at the crowd, did you see a lot of diversity in the crowd? This felt like a Trump rally. This didn’t feel like a rally or a celebration of America, something that would bring everyone.”

By now, everyone knows Hill’s MO; any event hosted by Trump or a Republican is bad, any event hosted by a Democrat is good. The perceived lack of “diversity” in the crowd is not a “fair representation of America.” Yet the lack of diversity in the modern NBA is something to be celebrated.

TMZ’s Harvey Levin pointed out that the UFC is very popular with fans of all races, ethnicities, and ethnicities, to which Hill responded that “active nationalism” overshadows people’s “concern about gas prices.”

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“And maybe some of this was also timely, because we are in a time when people are worried about fuel prices, they are worried about food, they are worried about surviving the day,” he said. “And you have this military parade and all this kind of patriotism going on, and it just felt out of place. This felt like a Trump rally. It didn’t feel like something that everyone should enjoy and participate in…”

Did he have similar complaints when the Biden administration held a Pride event on the White House lawn where a transgender person took off her shirt to reveal fake breasts? While people struggle with gas prices and affordability and rampant inflation as a direct result of Biden’s policies? Apparently not.

Would he consider it “effectively patriotic” to host a major sporting event under, say, the Obama administration? If fly overs are part of American sports culture, and part of officially sanctioned training equipment? Apparently not.

However, for him, because Trump, celebrating the country, our birthday, and having a fun, popular sports event in an incredible place was an example of “contemptuous” Americans.

“… if you were to think about what the views of the American people are, you know, in other countries, you know, there’s this kind of show-off, show-off, American kind of contempt. If you were to watch this, you’d think, you know what, they’ve never made any accusations,” he said.

President Donald Trump watches at the end of UFC Freedom 250 on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on June 15, 2026. (Mark Schifelbein/AP Photo)

Levin pointed out that it is not possible to represent everyone in the country through sports, because it is a big country with different interests. But the UFC will be among the “top sports” among the most attractive sports. He then compares it to the NFL and NBA, of course. Why? Because diversity.

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“I don’t doubt its appeal, but it’s certainly not the NFL,” he said. “And it’s not even the NBA, which is a very global sport. And we see the kind of diversity that’s fascinating in this sport. And that’s it. The fighters, there’s certainly diversity among the fighters. But I think you’d be lying to yourself if you didn’t say that there’s a very MAGA-centric feel and texture to this.”

The NBA is arguably the most unique professional sport in the United States. It’s just that the league is so representative of the way Hill likes it, that’s why he’s celebrating.

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UFC president and CEO Dana White and President Donald J. Trump walk into the Octagon during the UFC Freedom 250 event on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on June 14, 2026. (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

This is an almost perfect example of the nonsensical political talking points Hill and the left-wing sports media tend to engage in. UFC is very popular in the United States. The show was proudly patriotic, which is actually a good thing, but patriotism is offensive to him and the left when it comes from a Republican president. Gas prices and affordability are an excuse in 2026, but not in 2023-2024, because the right party was in charge. Hosting an event at the White House represents a “showy, proud” American if it’s Trump, but a pride day with a transgender person naked is a celebration.

Ironically, Hill’s criticism is the kind of silly, showmanship he pretends not to like. Welcome to the left-wing sports media.