Trump’s pathetic Dana White gambit could not mask his midterm humiliation | Howard Bryant

Trump has long relied on sports to project strength and fuel his culture wars. But after a crushing midterm defeat, even his UFC ally cannot distract from the political fallout

In the wake of being destroyed in the midterm elections, it was only a matter of time before Donald Trump did something outrageous in an attempt to misdirect public attention away from his catastrophic losses. Before the midterms, published reports suggested the possibility of apocalypse, global or domestic - a nuclear strike on Iran, martial law to suspend last week's, the invalidation of individual races, such as in Alaska - but Trump opted for banality over Armageddon, offering his vacant press secretary opening to Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White.

It was absurd, and widely posited that a confused Trump had erroneously conflated UFC's White with the Dana White who made more sense, former Heritage Foundation staffer Dana White. Because the public reactions made him look even more lost, confirming the sentiments of recklessness and disorder, utter chaos and buffoonery that led to the Republicans being routed in the midterm elections, the president said his offer to White was all a joke. As a disciple of the notorious McCarthyite Roy Cohn, who taught Trump one of his main political pillars - never apologize or admit wrongdoing. Ever. - Trump should not, of course, be taken at his word.