President Donald Trump is hosting UFC Freedom 250 at the White House on June 14. Trump has invited Ultimate Fighting Championship competitors to battle it out on the South Lawn in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence. It sounds like a fun time. But not to one conspiratorial CNN ‘journalist.’ You know who else liked sports? Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and Russian President Vladimir Putin! CNN’s Sara Sidner decided to take UFC President and CEO Dana White to the mat over ‘authoritarian’ Trump’s likely nefarious event.
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CNN’s Sara Sidner attempts to lecture Dana White about sports being used by “authoritarian governments like Mussolini to show power."
Very, very serious journalisming here:
"Do you worry about the confluence of this sport in particular and the Trump administration sort of being intertwined? People might say, look, Trump's using the same playbook as Mussolini or Putin."
Good lord.
This is CNN.
Oh, and check out Sidner's insane MMA fighting style. (WATCH)
CNN’s Sara Sidner attempts to lecture Dana White about sports being used by “authoritarian governments like Mussolini to show power."
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) June 3, 2026
Very, very serious journalisming here:
"Do you worry about the confluence of this sport in particular and the Trump administration sort of being… pic.twitter.com/ilCbKfWQ5K
Most absurd analogy and most severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome ever on display
— Jim Devine (@TheTubby2024) June 3, 2026
No sane person is drawing this comparison. She’s swinging at the air.
Posters correctly surmised the only reason Sidner is making this asinine analogy.
😆 What an idiotic thing to say- I love how she flails her hands like Newscum. “People might say”. What people!?? Bla bla bla
— BLAZE (@blaze_patriot) June 3, 2026
Trump this, Trump that. Authoritarian, Racist, Fascist. All BS!!
They just hate that Dana White and Trump are friends.
“people might say” is the standard legacy journo device that really means “here’s what I think"
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) June 3, 2026
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‘People might say’ is right up there with ‘sources say.’ Both are conjured up in the imagination of ‘journalists’ who want to put their own words into the mouths of people who don’t exist.
Speaking of conjuring. White looked like he was being interviewed by Marvel’s Doctor Strange. Sit for a spell, Dana!
What in the world pic.twitter.com/juoyaniVIy
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) June 3, 2026
She needs to wave her hands around more while asking her questions.
— RuZZia dēlenda est | #NAFO 🌻🇺🇸 (@CourtneyRigo) June 3, 2026
The crazy hand gestures is like Hakeem Jeffries on steroids
— Jim Devine (@TheTubby2024) June 3, 2026
What's with all the tai chi when asking questions?
— Paulie (@Goldenboypaul) June 3, 2026
Is she Gavin Newsome's evil twin sister with all of the weird hand motions.
— Roux (@rouxdsla) June 3, 2026
Sidner looked like a paraplegic belly dancer.
Sidner responded to Western Lensman’s thread with the typical ‘just asking objective questions’ countermove. He easily blocked it and delivered a fatal blow to her nonsense.
I love how you read this. I didn’t attempt to lecture anybody. I asked him if that’s how he saw it. There is a difference and he answers candidly. I truly appreciated our conversation and there is much more to come.
— Sara Sidner (@sarasidnerCNN) June 3, 2026
As soon as I hear "a page out of the playbook of..." I know the opinion to follow will be an absolute banger. It's right up there with "has its roots in..."
— Theta_c (@Theta_c_) June 3, 2026
Do you just have a fill-in the blanks template you use for these stories?
Just had to mention Mussolini about five times. Is this how you see it?
— Eric (@Eric130_7) June 3, 2026
Sara, you were attempting to tie Trump to fascism under the guise of a history lesson about Mussolini, sports, and authoritarian displays of power while gesticulating like it was a TED Talk.
The “Trump is a fascist” trope has been a legacy media staple for 10 years now.
No one is buying the “just asking objective questions” stuff here.
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) June 3, 2026
Sidner and other ‘journalists’ should know not to bring their tired moves into the online ring. They’ll get easily knocked out every time.