PoliticsJ.D. Vance Was 'Surprised' by Backlash From Josh Hokit’s False Claim Michelle Obama 'Is a Man'
J.D. Vance, who slammed comments about his wife, blew off a vile slur about Michelle Obama as 'a joke' by an 'amped up' fighter.
July 16 2026, Published 5:45 p.m. ET
Vice President J.D. Vance recently defended UFC fighter Josh Hokit, stating that the public backlash to Hokit's false and offensive comment —"Michelle Obama is a man"— made during a White House-hosted event was "totally disproportionate" to the remark itself.
Following a victory at the widely lambasted UFC cage fight event on the White House South Lawn, Hokit gave President Donald Trump a chain before grabbing the microphone to ask the crowd, "And lastly, Michelle Obama is a man. Am I right, America?"
UFC CEO Dana White publicly condemned the remark as "nasty and false.”
'That's National News?'
J.D. Vance thinks people should 'move on' from Josh Hokit's controversial comments.
During a recent episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” the topic of Hokit's remarks at the White House Freedom 250 fight arose.
"I was like, 'What an amped up fighter told a joke after a fight, said something after a fight, and that's actually national news?'" Vance told Rogan. "I'm still surprised. I've been in politics now for three or four years. I'm still shocked the [expletive] that people get really fired up about."
Rogan pushed back, saying, "First of all, a cage fight at the White House is crazy already. I mean, if he said Michelle Obama's a man at the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas, it's like, OK. Not the best thing to say at the White House. 'Michelle Obama's a man' is not the best thing to say."
'Get on With the Rest of Your Life'
The VP doesn't 'understand' why people were upset with the 'offensive comment.'
Vance minimized Rogan’s comment, replying, "Fair, but the reaction to it to me was still totally disproportionate. Dude, people say stuff all the time."
"I'm always a little bit caught off guard by the culture that just overreacts when clearly the thing that Josh is trying to get is the overreaction in the first place, right?" the 2028 Republican presidential hopeful said. "So you give him exactly what he wants, and like the worst you could say is, 'Oh, that was an offensive comment.' And you get on with the rest of your life."
"The people who really flip out about it and kind of lose their minds, I just I don't understand that," Vance added.
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J.D. Vance has lashed out at people who critcized his wife, Usha.
Vance himself, however, has “lost his mind” over comments, lashing out at reporters in January 2026 when he sharply criticized the media's coverage of an ICE shooting in Minneapolis.
Angered by how the press framed the incident, Vance delivered an irate monologue from the White House briefing room podium, calling the media's reporting "an absolute disgrace" and accusing journalists of lying and putting federal law enforcement at risk.
UFC CEO Dana White called the athlete's remark 'nasty and false.'
The 41-year-old former Ohio senator also went ballistic over racist and personal attacks directed at his wife, Usha.
When asked about comments made by political figures and fringe commentators, he stated in an interview that anyone attacking his wife can "eat s---."
