Donald Trump arrived at UFC 287 with Kid Rock to huge cheers on Saturday night.
The former president received a rousing welcome as he made a surprise appearance at the event at the Kaseya Center in Miami, according to videos and photos posted on social media.
The audience later chanted “USA” after Trump got up to wave to them, according to one video.
He sat ringside with UFC president Dana White, Kid Rock, and Mike Tyson. Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., also attended the event and was pictured speaking with his father.
A Trump spokesperson has been contacted for comment via email.
UFC fighter Jorge Masvidal gave a shoutout to Trump after losing his final professional fight to Gilbert Burns.
“I wanted to say, greatest president in the history of the world sitting right there,” he said, according to the New York Post. “I love that guy.”
Trump’s appearance at the event comes after he was arraigned in a New York courtroom on Tuesday.
The first former president to ever face criminal charges, Trump was confronted with a 34-count felony indictment charging him with falsifying business records at his company while trying to cover up an alleged effort to illegally influence the 2016 election by arranging payments that silenced claims potentially harmful to his candidacy.
Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images
He pleaded not guilty to all charges and has assailed the case against him as political persecution.
Meanwhile, Kid Rock, a longtime supporter of Trump, also made headlines this week for his response to Bud Light’s partnership with transgender influencer and activist Dylan Mulvaney.
Mulvaney, who is known for documenting her gender transition in a series on TikTok, first posted an Instagram reel sponsored by Bud Light on April 1 to coincide with the final days of the NCAA’s March Madness tournament.
“This month, I celebrated my day 365 of womanhood, and Bud Light sent me possibly the best gift ever—a can with my face on it,” Mulvaney told her followers in the video. The post’s caption also detailed a Bud Light contest.
The beer brand’s partnership with Mulvaney sparked a backlash, with some calling for a boycott of Bud Light and its parent company, Anheuser-Busch.
Kid Rock, whose given name is Robert James Ritchie, responded by posting a video where he is seen shooting at a table topped with cans of Bud Light with an assault-style rifle.
“Grandpa is feeling a little frisky today. Let me say something to all of you and be as clear and concise as possible,” he says in the video, while wearing a hat with MAGA (Make America Great Again) on it.
“F*** Bud Light. And f*** Anheuser-Busch,” he added, after opening fire on the cans.
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