MIAMI, FLORIDA: Shaquille O’Neal, mostly known as Shaq, recently found himself out of favor with a section of social media users who did not take kindly to his meeting with Robert F Kennedy Jr and Donald Trump while attending the UFC 314 in Miami on Saturday, April 12.
As the NBA legend attended the tournament, he brushed shoulders with several right-wing bigwigs, including President Donald Trump and the 71-year-old Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Kennedy Jr posted a photo with the 53-year-old former basketball player and announced that they were heading to the UFC fight in Miami.
🔥🚨DEVELOPING: RFK jr uploaded a photo with NBA legend Shaq and announced that they are heading to the UFC fight here in Miami. pic.twitter.com/l2UfQ3CFGl
— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) April 12, 2025
Shaquille O’Neal warms up to Donald Trump and RFK Jr during UFC fight
Apart from genially posing with Robert F Kennedy Jr, Shaquille O’Neal was also seen in a now viral video, exchanging fond greetings with President Donald Trump, 78.
Legendary Basketball Player, Shaq travels through the crowd to give Donald Trump a handshake ❤️
Everybody respects the MAGA King pic.twitter.com/6qlGUZwl9z
— Musa Ali 👀🇺🇸 (@MusaAli152825) April 13, 2025
Many of Trump’s conservative allies, including Elon Musk, Kash Patel, and Dana White were also present at the Kaseya Center for UFC 314.
O’ Neal hobnobbing with Trump and Kennedy Jr comes as a great surprise as almost a decade ago, the retired athlete was a vocal critic of Trump.
Back in 2016, he said, “Donald Trump speaks to an eclectic type audience… I just think he says it wrong. Donald’s like a straight-up guy. He’s a straight-forward guy.”