Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., is pushing back hard against Larry Davids denunciation of President Donald Trumps White House UFC event marking Americas 250th birthday, dismissing the comedians outrage as overwrought and unpatriotic.
The clash began when David, promoting his new HBO series "Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness," derided the UFC Freedom Fight 250 held on the White House South Lawn. According to Fox News, David told Variety of the event, "It was a travesty," adding, "What else can you say about it?"
The 78-year-old comic went further, declaring, "It was embarrassing," and, "I was embarrassed to be an American." His remarks targeted a celebration that combined mixed martial arts, military pageantry, and a milestone national anniversary under a president who has consistently embraced patriotic spectacle and support for the armed forces.
Fetterman, speaking to TMZ on Wednesday, responded by invoking a classic line from the 1981 Bill Murray comedy "Stripes." "Id say lighten up, Francis," Fetterman said, quoting the movie as he brushed aside Davids indignation.
The line comes from a scene in which a character named Francis, played by Conrad Dunn, insists during Army basic training that he be called "Psycho" instead of his given name. The demand prompts Sgt. Hulka, portrayed by Warren Oates, to deadpan the now-iconic retort, "Lighten up, Francis."
The reference seemed to sail over the TMZ reporters head, who repeatedly pressed Fetterman to explain the joke. The senator, however, stayed on message, using the moment to underscore what many conservatives see as the lefts chronic inability to tolerate anything associated with President Trump.
Fetterman then sharpened his criticism, telling David to "get over himself" for claiming to be ashamed of his country over a sporting event. "Hey, Im proud to be an American, and if you are embarrassed or whatever because of a UFC thing, get over yourself, dude," Fetterman added.
The UFC Freedom Fight 250, staged earlier this month, doubled as a celebration of Trumps 80th birthday and the nations semiquincentennial. The South Lawn crowd included 1,200 active-duty service members and roughly 4,000 spectators, with both Trump and UFC president Dana White in attendance.
Guests witnessed a patriotic program that featured the Marine Band and country star Zac Brown performing the national anthem. The evening culminated in a dramatic flyover by the Navys Blue Angels and the Air Force Thunderbirds, underscoring the administrations emphasis on honoring the military and national pride.
"It was beyond anything that anybody's ever seen in sports," the president told reporters as he departed the White House ahead of the G7 summit in France. A White House spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital: "This was one of the greatest and most historic sports events in history, and President Trump hosting it at the White House is a testament to his vision to celebrate Americas monumental 250th anniversary. Anyone who finds a problem with that clearly suffers from a severe and incurable disease known as Trump Derangement Syndrome."
Fox News Digital reached out to David and Fetterman for further comment but did not immediately receive responses. The episode highlights a familiar divide: a commander in chief using the peoples house to honor the nation, its military, and its freedoms, and a Hollywood figure so alienated by that vision that he claims to be "embarrassed to be an American"a stance many on the right see as revealing far more about coastal elitism than about the event itself.
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