Donald Trump Hangs Out With Guy Fieri and Mel Gibson at UFC in Las Vegas

Former president Donald Trump met with celebrities including TV presenter Guy Fieri and director Mel Gibson at the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in Las Vegas. The interactions prompted mixed reactions online.

The former president was met with cheers from the crowd and he high-fived fans when he stepped out into the T-Mobile Arena for UFC 290 on Saturday, July 8.

Trump continued to greet the crowd as he walked over to the analyst desk where he met with podcast host and UFC commentator Joe Rogan, as well as numerous other celebrities.

Photos of Fieri and Trump showed the two men conversing with one another close to the octagon where the fights take place.

The images of the pair meeting one another sparked strong reactions from fans of Trump and Fieri, who dubs himself the Mayor of Flavor Town.

Since the images were uploaded to social media, the photos attracted praise and scorn from supporters and detractors of the divisive former president.

Trump supporter, former columnist and chief creative officer at Turning Point USA Benny Johnson, tweeted: "Trump in Flavor Town."

Johnson's tweet has since been viewed around 209,600 times and received nearly 9,000 likes since being shared on July 8.

Verified user IamKristy, who has 49,600 followers, said: "I never thought I would ever see Guy Fieri meet Trump, not ever."

Twitter account Survivor Always was more critical of the meeting and said: "Well, this is disappointing. I liked Guy Fieri, but what this tells me about who he is on a personal level and his ethics and morals really bothers me. Why would he be caught talking and smiling with Trump? That's horrible. Ewww."

Fieri has rarely spoken out about political issues, but he was praised for raising more than $21.5 million in seven weeks to help unemployed restaurant workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also expressed his support for the California Restaurant Association's lawsuit against the state's outdoor dining ban during the pandemic.

During the event, Trump was spotted speaking with Australian actor and director Gibson and Republican campaign strategist Roger Stone.

In a tweet shared by Stone on Saturday, Trump could be seen speaking with the Republican and film director.

The tweet was captioned: "Shooting the **** with @realdonaldtrump and #MelGibson at the UFC fight in Vegas."

Since the tweet was shared, it has been viewed more than 484,700 times and has received around 17,000 likes.

A video of Gibson appearing to salute Trump at the star-studded UFC 264 fight in 2021 went viral on social media.

Gibson is widely known for his controversial stances and outspokenness and described himself as "politically incorrect" during a December 2020 interview on the Fox News show The Ingraham Angle.

Stone, who worked on Trump's previous campaign, was pardoned by the former president after he was sentenced to prison in relation to an investigation into meddling in the 2016 election.

Newsweek has contacted Trump and Fieri's press teams for comment.