Dominique “SonicFox” McLean took home the first prize trophy — a large hammer — at Mortal Kombat Final Kombat 2020, and while they didn’t get a proper acceptance speech, they did manage to grab the microphone and tell everyone watching to vote for democratic primary candidate Bernie Sanders.
[Ed. note: McLean identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, especially in the fighting game community.]
McLean had their iconic blue SonicFox fursuit head and was wearing a transgender pride flag on their back when they accepted the trophy. As the announcer closed out the tournament, thanking everyone for watching and attending, McLean gently grabbed the microphone and said, “Vote Bernie,” before walking off stage.
Though the event was closed to the public due to coronavirus concerns, Final Kombat 2020 was broadcast online. Tournament organizers also canceled its Last Chance Qualifier event, scheduled for the same weekend, a day before it was set to begin.
It’s not surprising that they got political on stage, as they’ve done it before, namely at The Game Awards in 2018. “I’m gay, black, a furry — pretty much everything a Republican hates,” McLean said after accepting the award for Esports Player of the Year.
SonicFox really just won the Mortal Kombat world championship, came out in fursuit wrapped in the trans flag, grabbed the mic and said "Vote Bernie"
Legendary shit pic.twitter.com/Vu63DuWfXo
— BedWords (@snacklesbian) March 9, 2020
McLean has won most of the Mortal Kombat 11 tournaments they’ve taken part in, taking either first or second place at tournaments like EVO 2019 and Summit of Time 2019.