{"id":803,"date":"2026-05-28T13:39:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T13:39:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propertyrelocationusa.com\/?p=803"},"modified":"2026-05-28T13:39:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T13:39:37","slug":"ex-trump-aide-gets-cnn-smackdown-as-he-calls-trump-party-criticism-elitist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propertyrelocationusa.com\/?p=803","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Trump aide gets CNN smackdown as he calls Trump party criticism ‘elitist’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CNN’s Audie Cornish was caught off guard by a former Donald Trump official’s response to criticism of the president’s plans for his 80th birthday celebration.<\/p>\n

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An octagon-shaped cage is being erected on the White House South Lawn to host next month’s UFC bout marking the nation’s 250th anniversary and the president’s birthday, and mixed martial arts analyst Luke Thomas addressed some of the concerns about the hulking structure and the event itself.<\/p>\n

“It seems a little classist to<\/span> me, to be perfectly honest,” Thomas said. “I<\/span>t’s not that<\/span> I’m opposed to the arguments<\/span> that \u2013 for example, I’ve lived in<\/span> Washington, D.C., on and off,<\/span> since the 1980s, and I grew, I<\/span> learned how to swim at East<\/span> Potomac Park. My daughter had<\/span> her second birthday there. You<\/span> know, the fact that he’s taking<\/span> that over or that he’s painting<\/span> the bottom of the Reflecting<\/span> Pool blue or he’s putting his<\/span> name on the Kennedy Center.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>“These are things that you can<\/span> have a real problem with, or<\/span> even just a debate or a<\/span> conversation about, but then<\/span> calling it tacky or trashy, I’m<\/span> like, who is this convincing to?” Thomas added.<\/span> “This is automatically alienating<\/span> to people who need to<\/span> understand there’s a bigger<\/span> problem here, which is not so<\/span> much the event. I don’t really<\/span> have a problem with the event as<\/span> such. It’s the union between<\/span> the Ultimate Fighting<\/span> Championship and Trump’s<\/span> politics, or how one enabled the<\/span> other, and I think that to me is<\/span> the thing that people should be<\/span> focused on.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Mike Dubke, who served as White House communications director early in Trump’s first term, advanced that argument.<\/span><\/p>\n

“This is either the<\/span> people’s house or it’s not the<\/span> people’s house,” Dubke said, “and I think to<\/span> your point, it’s a bit elitist<\/span> to be really up in arms over all<\/span> of this.”<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span>“Wait, so whose house is it?” Cornish interjected.<\/span> “It looks like it’s Trump’s<\/span> house. It’s his birthday party.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“It is,” Dubke agreed, but his argument fell apart at that point. “I don’t it’s an<\/span> octagon. I think with all the<\/span> military that’s going to be<\/span> there, it should be a Pentagon<\/span> birthday. But that’s a whole<\/span> other thing.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Thomas picked up the discussion and made clear the event was centered around the president and his birthday.<\/span><\/p>\n

“To be<\/span> clear, it’s on Trump’s birthday,” Thomas said.<\/span> “I mean, we could<\/span> dedicate this show to the 250th<\/span> anniversary of the birth of the<\/span> nation, that doesn’t make it a<\/span> real celebration of it as such.<\/span> I mean, I’m sure they might have<\/span> some genuine intentions, but<\/span> they moved it originally from a<\/span> July closer date back to<\/span> Trump’s birthday. I think that<\/span> like trying to disguise the fact<\/span> that this is largely about …<\/span> magnifying<\/span> Trump. It’s just disingenuous.”<\/span><\/p>\n

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