MMA broadcast journalist Ariel Helwani gave his tackle UFC President Dana White’s response to the shooting that occurred on the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday.
White was on the dinner alongside President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and a number of other other high-ranking cabinet officials when an armed man entered the outer lobby area and discharged his weapon. He struck an officer in his vest, injuring them but doing no further harm as Secret Service apprehended him.
While others were alarmed and panicked by the situation, White had given a wholly different assessment. He found it to “f***ing awesome” and said that he had been told to get down, but opted as a substitute to stay upright and taking all the things in.
Helwani assessed White’s response during “MMA Hour” and compared it to when he went to a water park together with his kids, reasoning that he responds in such a way after being on a ride versus a would-be political assassination.
“Is it possible that he’s that void of any kind of human emotion or excitement in his life at this point, it’s something like that that gets that kind of response out of him? I used to be blown away,” he said. “The word psychotic got here to mind. Because I am unable to imagine having that kind of response to a possible assassination. Now anyone out there’s going to take heed to this and say, ‘You are a snowflake.’ A: That is his friend. B: You are saying, ‘Hey they told us to get down, I used to be like I’m not getting down, I used to be watching with popcorn.'”
Helwani said that there have been other ways of communicating support for the agents and officers liable for protection and apprehending the suspect. But he was bowled over by how excited White was especially when comparing the response to others on the event corresponding to Stephen A. Smith.