Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, 78, held a campaign rally in New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27, where wrestling legend Hulk Hogan took to the stage.
While in “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” Hogan took more shots at Trump’s Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, weeks after seemingly threatening her.
Many of the speakers at the event came under fire for making perceived racist, anti-Semitic, and xenophobic comments. The offensive remarks led to critics of Trump’s Make America Great Again movement comparing the MSG rally to an infamous Nazi rally in 1939 that was held in a previous iteration of the MSG venue.
“I don’t see no stinking Nazis in here. I don’t see no stinking domestic terrorists in here,” Hogan told the Trump-a-maniacs in the crowd.
He said when Trump speaks he “sounds like he has a heart of gold for the USA. But when I hear Kamala speak … it sounds like a script from Hollywood.”
The WWE Hall of Famer then labeled Kamala Harris, 60, a “bad actress” after making a spitting sound. Hogan’s verbal jab appeared to reference the “Hawk Tuah” meme that went viral in 2024.
Hailey Welch, aka Hawk Tuah Girl, made national news after she offered oral sex advice in an interview outside a Nashville nightclub. She declared, “Oh, you gotta give him that ‘hawk tuah’ and spit on that thang.”
Hogan’s on-stage dig at Harris led to social media users blasting the 71-year-old “Rocky III” actor. Many critics called him racist.
For instance, one X user tweeted, “I respected Hulk Hogan as a wrestler, but I don’t respect him if he’s being racist to Black people. How rude!”
Someone else wrote, “They had a comedian come on and just be racist for the sake of it, thinking [it] would be a good way to promote Trump. And now they have Hogan, another known racist trying to do the same.”
A third person posted, “It’s funny how Hulk Hogan says when Kamala Harris speaks it sounds like a script from Hollywood… He said that while reading off a paper and doing all the Hollywood schtick he was doing while a wrestler.”
Others clowned Hogan for struggling to rip off his shirt. One account asked, “Did anyone tell Hulk Hogan that he was speaking at a political rally and that you don’t tear your shirt off and run wild [at] political rallies?!??!”
In addition, a YouTube commenter on the New York Post’s video about Hogan’s MSG speech wrote, “What an embarrassing idiot.”
Hogan’s Madison Square Garden address was not the first time he took direct aim at Harris. In August the former WWF world champion threatened to perform wrestling moves on the vice president.
“Want me to body slam Kamala Harris? I said, do you want me to body slam Kamala Harris? Do you want me to drop the leg on Kamala?” Hogan asked fans during a promotional event in Ohio for his Real American Beer brand.
Hogan also made fun of Harris’ South Asian heritage. After mocking the vice president with a Native American stereotype, he said, “I’m gonna get heat for that one, brother. That was not me. That was the beer talking.”
The Hulkster has a very problematic history on the topic of race. Hogan sued Gawker in 2013 after the media outlet published his sex tape without his permission. The lawsuit led to revelations he held racist views toward Black people.
An audio recording submitted as evidence in the Gawker case featured the man born Terry Bollea using the N-word. Plus, the former “Hogan Knows Best” reality show star was caught on video saying, “I guess we’re all a little racist.”
In 2015, WWE cleared all references to Hogan from the company’s website and removed him from the promotion’s Hall of Fame. WWE eventually reinstated Hogan after he publicly apologized for his anti-Black comments.
Hogan’s support for Donald Trump’s run for the presidency included him giving a speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
The Georgia-born entertainer was able to successfully rip off his shirt at the RNC to loud applause from the conservative crowd.
