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One of pro wrestling’s biggest stars in history, Hulk Hogan (Terry Bollea), was interviewed on Fox News on Sunday touting Donald Trump. He said he has talked politics with a lot of fans recently while traveling around the country promoting a new brand of beer with his name and image on it. “Thousands of people get in line to meet and greet me, and everyone is for Trump,” he said.
He said he doesn’t believe in the polls and the election will be a landslide win for Trump. “We want God in our homes and our schools and in our country,” he said.
He also talked with Fox News about the role of a woman compared to a man in American life.
“Well, brother, at the end of the day, there is a chain of command. Our Lord and Savior, the wife and the husband and the kids. At the end of the day, the wife is to nourish but the man is to protect, serve, and provide. At the end of the day, that’s what this is all about, being a real man, being a real American, and getting this country – not how it used to be, but how it should be, brother.”
In a press release this summer for the “Real American Beer” launch, Hogan touted the patriotic theme. “Real American Beer is bringing America together, one beer at a time,” he said.
Hogan has been returning to public life nearly ten years after revelations of past racist comments he made while in his 50s drove him largely to the fringes. Recordings were publicized of him talking to his son about black people, which he thought were private and thus were unencumbered by fear of public backlash. He also defended his use of the n-word.
“People need to realize that you inherit things from your environment,” he said. “And where I grew up, was south Tampa, Port Tampa, and it was a really rough neighborhood, very low income. And all my friends, we greeted each other saying that word.”
WWE, at the time, largely scrubbed Hulk Hogan from their website and removed references to him being a judge on Tough Enough. Under Paul Levesque’s leadership recently, he has been brought back in more prominent public roles with WWE including in-person appearances hyping WrestleMania earlier year and heavy promotion for this past summer’s New York Fanatics Fest during WWE TV programs.
Hogan visited the WWE locker room after the scandal broke to try to redeem himself.
Titus O’Neal commented on that locker room visit during an interview with “Busted Open” radio:
“First of all, you grew up in the ’60s. I don’t know any black man that would let you call him that in the ’60s. You grew up in South Tampa, you went to Robinson High School. I live in Tampa — Robinson High School was not a predominantly black school in the time that he went to high school. Most of the people he wrestled with, Mike Graham – Eddie Graham’s kid – you know Steve Keirn, these guys all went to high school with him. So don’t tell me that’s how you spoke in the ’60s. There’s no realistic way that you can even come close to telling me that was okay with any black man at that time. So again, the inconsistencies of the apology along with the lack of remorse and contrition with the apology are the reason why I felt and many others felt at that meeting that this was a complete waste of our time.”
Hogan spoke at the Republican National Convention this summer and has been heavily promoting his new beer brand, which was marketed as being non-political. Last year, Bud Light was the subject of criticism from the right-wing political sphere after aligning with Dylan Mulvaney, an actor and social media influencer with a large following.
Hogan told “Fox & Friends” this summer that his beer is meant to be non-political
“I had this crazy idea because I saw how competitive the beer industry was, and I saw what happened with Bud Light and their whole promotion that crashed and burned. I saw this crazy open lane, and it just reminded me of what needed to be done in this country, you know, because we’re much more alike than we are different. And I just thought this is so much bigger than politics, because if you can’t communicate and if you can’t talk, you’re not going to get anywhere, you know, with your discussions, your decisions or with people getting along. So I said I want to create a beer that’s for Republicans and Democrats, doesn’t matter what sex you are, doesn’t matter what your race is, where you’re from, or what you believe in.”
The thrust of this view appear to be that because there was outrage over Bud Light aligning with a famous transgender person, there was a need for a beer that would remain “neutral,” as if expunging segments of actual Americans from marketing a brand qualifies as being non-political.
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