Another week, another pasty white boy entertainer crying “I’m not political!” while defending his presence at a Trump party. All month Robert Van Winkle — pka Vanilla Ice — has been milking his 16th minute of fame by doubling down on his participation in Trump’s Freedom 250 concert. Among Van Winkle’s arguments were “I’ve never voted in my life!” and “Who throws a better party than Trump?” Now milquetoast comedian and worst Emmys host Nate Bargatze is delivering the same lines after he was caught on camera at Trump’s UFC Freedom 250 birthday mess on Sunday. Cheryl Hines — Mrs. Secretary Brain Worm — posted a selfie on her Instagram of her and RFK Jr. posing with Bargatze at the White House before everyone exited to the desecrated South Lawn for the match. I guess Bargatze thought he was so inoffensive that no one would even notice he was there, but now that Hines outed him Bargatze’s rep is playing defense saying “He’s not political!” and “He just loves the sport!”
On Sunday, actor Cheryl Hines, the wife of Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., posted a photo to her Instagram story of her, her husband and comedian Nate Bargatze. The photo appears to have been snapped inside the White House, considering that Vice President JD Vance is seen in the background, just behind Bargatze.
Hines’ other Instagram stories as of Monday include a photo of her and Kennedy in front of the White House, and a few featuring the UFC cage that was erected on the White House’s South Lawn to celebrate President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday — a literal “is this real life?” celebration that felt disturbingly reminiscent of a few key scenes from 2006’s “idiocracy.”
“Nate is family friendly entertainment first,” a representative for Bargatze told HuffPost in an email Monday. “He is not political nor is anything he produces. He is also a huge UFC fan and has been since before it became political.”
His rep noted to HuffPost that Bargatze has “fans from both sides of the aisle,” and that he “appeared on The View and Fox and Friends” to promote his new movie “The Breadwinner.”
The rep also noted that the comedian “doesn’t turn down photo requests.”
“For example, there’s a photo of him and Don Lemon somewhere,” his rep said.
“He went last night to enjoy a sport he loves,” his rep continued.
A quick gander of Bargatze’s official social media accounts also show he made no mention of attending Trump’s birthday bash, with his posts on Instagram showing mostly promotion for his new comedy movie and snippets of recent stand-up gigs.
The top-selling and beloved comedian is known for his clean and nonpolitical comedy, and has hosted “Saturday Night Live” twice as well as 77th Emmy Awards last year.
But his fans may be a bit surprised to see Bargatze at a Trump-centric event, however, being that his mere presence at the party could be interpreted by critics as the comedian being Trump-friendly.
Bargatze (or his people) trotted out this same talking point last year, in the wake of Bargatze absolutely bombing his Emmys hosting duties. “He’s not political! He’s not controversial!” was supposed to somehow explain away the fact that he had NO jokes planned for the awards show after the opening sketch, except for maybe sort of one joke that was so “subtle” he had to point it out to everyone days later. So I know that this is Bargatze’s schtick, being the stand up who doesn’t take a stand on anything. BUT HE ATTENDED AN EVENT AT THIS WHITE HOUSE! The attendance itself IS political, Nate! And he’s plenty rich enough to afford going to ANY OTHER UFC event. To all right wing entertainers: please stop insulting our intelligence with these crap “We’re not being political, YOU are!” rebuttals. Either own the move or don’t make it at all. And by the way, Bruce Springsteen has fans from both sides of the aisle, but that doesn’t stop him from expressing his beliefs clearly and eloquently. To quote the actually beloved John Oliver: “F–k you Nate Bargatze.”
Lastly, “There’s a photo of him and Don Lemon somewhere” is positively sending me.
