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Why Did Hulk Hogan And Dana White Speak At RNC? Their Trump Ties Explained.

Hulk Hogan and Dana White delivered speeches during Dana White and Hulk Hogan gave addresses during the Republican National Convention, highlighting the ties between Trump and WWE and the UFC.

By Tavon Thomasson

Jul 19, 2024 09:22 PM

Topline

UFC president Dana White and longtime WWE wrestler Hulk Hogan delivered high-octane endorsement speeches to former President Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention in a manner that highlighted the president’s lengthy relationships with both WWE and UFC. UFC.

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – – JULY 18, Professional entertainer and wrestler Hulk Hogan poses as he speaks … [+ on stage on Thursday, the fourth day of the Republican National Convention held at Fiserv Forum. Fiserv Forum on July 18 2024 located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Politicians as well as delegates and Republican supporters have gathered at Milwaukee in the city to participate in this year’s convention. The convention will end with ex-president Donald Trump accepting his party’s nomination for the presidency. The RNC will be held between July 15-18. (Photo from Chip Somodevilla/Getty images)

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Key Facts

The WWE relationship, before known as WWF, has been in existence since 1988, when Trump was a part of the expansion of Vince McMahon’s billion-dollar entertainment empire. This resulted in Trump Plaza at Atlantic City sponsoring WrestleMania 1988 and 1989 (Trump said in a documentary of 2011 that “wanted a piece of” the WrestleMania event). ).

Since then, Trump has also made appearances at WrestleMania 1991 in Los Angeles and WrestleMania 2004 in New York, and in 2007, he appeared as participant of”The Battle of the Billionaires ” Battle of the Billionaires” at WrestleMania 2007. In 2007 Bobby Lashley beat Umaga which caused billionaire McMahon’s locks being cut in the middle of the arena.

Trump, who was inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013, has been named WWE Co-Founder McMahon’s spouse as well as McMahon’s spouse, Linda McMahon, as administrator of the Small Business Administration.

Vince McMahon paid $5 million to the charity of Donald Trump between 2007 between 2007 and the year 2009. The payments were in line with Trump’s WWE appearances, but the motive behind the payment isn’t understood, The Wall Street Journal disclosed (the payments were made public following WWE disclosed millions of non-related expenses previously not reported through McMahon in the case of women who were accused of sexual assault. ).

Relations between Trump as well as UFC and White began more than 20 years back. Trump himself was invited by White to host events at Trump Taj Mahal located in Atlantic City as well as take part in both the June and May 2001 events, from the beginning to the very end, White stated in a 2022 interview The BBC.

At the 2016. Republican National Convention, White delivered a speech that praised Trump during the month of this after the president’s decision in the hush-money case. White’s first appearance in the public arena after being found guilty was during the UFC celebration.

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Key Background

A world full of sports entertainment as well as combat sports came together in the Republican National Convention on Thursday with Hogan, White and Linda McMahon making speeches of endorsement in support of Donald Trump. In Hogan’s speech speech, he had the crowd jump onto the stage, displaying numerous of his most well-known wrestling quips and catchy phrases like stripping off his shirt to expose the Trump shirt. Before his talk, Hogan declared in an interview in a Fox News interview and during his speech that the attempted assassination Trump was the main reason that he chose to speak at the convention. He also described Trump as his president “hero” and “what America needs.” Linda McMahon also gave an speech in support of Trump earlier on Thursday.

Tangent

White’s speech in the inaugural address of Trump is an abrupt change in tone from his previous GOP conventions, where the wife of Trump Melania and daughter Ivanka delivered the opening remarks during 2016 and 2020 and.

Surprising Fact

Despite his undying Trump support, Hulk Hogan endorsed Barack Obama in 2008, but he decided to not support Hogan for a second period, According to The Washington Post.

Forbes Valuation

We estimate that Vince McMahon’s net worth estimated to be $2.9 billion. McMahon quit WWE–now controlled by the TKO Group earlier this year after a string of allegations of sexual misconduct. The Wall Street Journal states that federal authorities are investigating allegations of sexual assault and trafficking regarding McMahon whom he has denied any allegations against him. Trump on his own is estimated to be worth $5.9 billion.