WATCH: Men of All Races Rally in Support of Michelle Obama After Derogatory UFC Fighter Comment

Michelle Obama once told us to go high when others go low, and that’s exactly what many users are doing on social media in response to the derogatory comments made about her recently at the White House UFC fight. And when you see how people are showing up for the former first lady, you’re sure to be impressed.

If you’ll remember, we told you that President Donald J. Trump hosted a “UFC Freedom 250” event at the White House on June 14. After the event, headlines began pouring out about the ordeal, thanks to fighter Josh Hokit, who claimed, “Michelle Obama is a man,” during a post-fight interview. And while Obama herself refused to respond directly to the comment (though some argued that she indirectly got her lick back during her poetic speech at the Obama Presidential Center opening), in a surprising move, men of all different races and ethnicities have taken to social media to sing her praises and condemn Hokit’s insulting words.

One white man user blasted the comments on TikTok, calling them “classless” and “unacceptable.” He also praised Obama for being an educated, beautiful, and articulate woman.

“I’m a lifelong Republican. I’m a Republican appointee. I’m a former federal Special Agent. I’m not some tree-hugging, fanatical Democratic supporter. But I’ll tell you what? Michelle Obama is a mother. Michelle Obama is a wife and a former first lady of the United States of America. Michelle Obama is a very educated woman,” the user said in part. “

He continued: “Michelle Obama is a very articulate woman, and even though I don’t agree with her or her husband Barack’s politics, it is absolutely classless and unacceptable to say those kinds of things about Michelle Obama in public and on a public forum. It’s just absolutely unacceptable. Michelle Obama is a beautiful woman.”

Sports analyst and New York Times bestselling author Emmanuel Acho also spoke out against Hokit’s words, questioning why he’d choose that moment to insult one of the country’s most educated first ladies.

“Black women are the most under-protected, under-praised women in this society,” he began. “It was disappointing by a dude who, if he has a brain, it’s not functioning at a high capacity in Josh Hokit. How in the world do you win your event, and the first thing you want to go do is disparage somebody in Michelle Obama, that’s not even thinking about you?… Instead of shouting out your loved ones, maybe your significant other, maybe your kids, maybe your deity, whoever you worship, you want to waste 15 seconds of our time, of your time, to disparage a Princeton grad, followed by a Harvard Law grad?”

TikTok user Eric Cou, who is of Asian descent, also didn’t mince words in response to Hokit, calling the act “f*cking disrespectful.”

“Calling Michelle Obama, a former first lady, a man on live TV on the White House lawn is so insanely f*cking disrespectful. This is not liberal snowflake propaganda. There’s a big difference between what this UFC fighter did and a comedian telling an offensive joke,” he said in part.

“You’re on the White House lawn, and then you publicly insult a former first lady from two administrations ago? For f*cking what?” Cou questioned.

User Scott Lloyd, a white scholar of race, religion, culture, and communication, provided some historical context and background to Hokit’s insult and why it’s so pervasive when it comes to Black women, specifically.

“One of the oldest racist ideas in American history is the notion that Black women are somehow less feminine, less of a woman, or more masculine than their white counterparts. This wasn’t an accident; it wasn’t a misunderstanding. It was an idea deliberately cultivated during slavery to justify exploitation,” he explained.

He went on to say that despite Obama’s intelligence and accomplishments, she was unfortunately subjected to Hokit’s insult due to its basis in the aforementioned ideology, as it still affects how certain white people view Black people and women today.

“Every human being deserves dignity, respect and the freedom to define themselves rather than to be defined by the myths, by the racism of the past. And that certainly applies to first lady Michelle Obama,” he concluded.