During a recent live chat, MMA journalist Luke Thomas addressed the growing rumors that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could attend the upcoming UFC White House event.
Thomas approached the speculation cautiously, stressing that nothing had been officially confirmed while also making it clear how negatively he believed such a move would be received.
The discussion began when a viewer referenced “the other Yitler being at the White House,” prompting Thomas to clarify what rumor they were talking about.
“Are these the rumors that Benjamin Netanyahu will be at the White House event, the UFC White House event?” Thomas asked before dismissing the reports as unverified. “Those are just rumors,” he said. “I’m treating it as a rumor until it’s otherwise confirmed. I would imagine that probably won’t happen.”
Even while expressing skepticism, Thomas did not hide how damaging he believed the situation would be if it turned out to be true.
“It’s not like I think highly of Trump’s discretion, but I would think even less highly of it in that circumstance,” he said. “I could not think of something that would make it more automatically disqualifying even for people who want to watch that thing than doing that. That might be the worst thing he could do for PR.”
As more viewers brought up the reports during the broadcast, Thomas immediately questioned where the claims were originating from.
“Where are those reports coming from? That to me seems impossible,” he said before criticizing the idea of such an appearance. “Would you invite a guy who’s wanted by the ICC to a spectacle like this? Who could defend an event where he did that? How do you defend the butcher of Gaza being at your event and say, ‘Well, everything here is just… this is a great normal event.’”
Thomas then explained how strongly he personally would react if the reports were ever confirmed.
“That would be morally hideous and so indefensible. It would be a stain on MMA for the rest of its existence. I really, really hope that’s not true,” he said. “That is the kind of thing that would make me get out of covering the sport altogether. I’m not even doing a bit.”
