The UFC has a storied history of displaying little patience with dissenting voices in MMA media, so a former communications director for the promotion seems like the perfect fit for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
According to reports, Trump has hired Steven Cheung as his campaign’s Director of Rapid Response.
AP claim that Cheung’s responsibilities will include “keeping the campaign up to date on breaking news and pushing back on false or unbalanced reporting.”
Cheung most recently worked for the UFC, an organisation with a reputation for promptly taking away reporters’ credentials, so has experience in reprimanding media members.
The UFC famously withdrew fan-favourite reporter Ariel Helwani’s credentials last month after he published a pair of stories prior to them being officially announced. And, in the past, journalists such as Josh Gross, Loretta Hunt and Jeff Sherwood were all banned from attending UFC events.
Trump has come in for heavy criticism by a number of media members so it will be interesting to see who the first reporter will be to be Helwani-ed by the presidential candidate.
