President Donald Trump mourned the loss of his “great friend” Hulk Hogan, calling the professional wrestling icon “MAGA all the way” and reminiscing about his high-energy appearance at the 2024 Republican National Convention.
Trump described Hogan, who death was announced July 24, as “Strong, tough, smart, but with the biggest heart.”
“He entertained fans from all over the World, and the cultural impact he had was massive,” Trump said in a social media post.
Trump has longstanding ties to professional wrestling and his relationship with Hogan goes back decades. He hosted the WWE’s Wrestlemania in Atlantic City two years in a row in the 1980s when Hogan was at the peak of his popularity. He is in the WWE Hall of Fame, along with Hogan.
Hogan’s appearance at the Republican National Convention in 2024 to endorse Trump was one of the event’s more memorable moments. Speaking on the last night of the convention, shortly before Trump took the stage, Hogan pointed to the viewing box where Trump sat and declared “at the end of the day, with our leader up there, my hero, that gladiator, we’re going to bring America back together.”
Hogan, whose legal name is Terry Bollea, later ripped off his shirt to reveal a “Trump Vance Make America Great Again 2024” shirt underneath. The crowd went wild.
Trump called it “one of the highlights of the entire week” in his social media post.
Hogan said he was prompted to get involved in the campaign after Trump was shot in an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“As an entertainer, I try to stay out of politics,” Hogan said. “But after everything that’s happened to our country over the past four years, and everything that happened last weekend, I can no longer stay silent.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump mourns death of professional wrestler Hulk Hogan
