The first two-time UFC champ Conor McGregor is running for president of his home country: Ireland. He made this announcement after spending St. Patrick’s day with Trump and his family at the White House. He said he would run for president to oppose a long-awaited new European Union migration pact aimed at sharing the burden of processing asylum claims more evenly across the block. He said “Any other Presidential candidate they attempt to put forward will be of no resistance to them. I will!” talking about a specific bill.
When Conor went to the White house, he became the latest European ally of the US president to promote anti-immigrant sentiment. When asked why McGregor is running, he said, “Ireland is at the cusp of potentially losing its Irishness,” said on Monday, claiming the government had “abandoned the voices” of Irish people and that rural towns were being overrun by immigrants, like in the US. Now, Conor McGregor is basing this on the fact that Ireland, with a population of just over 5 million people, has seen 141,600 immigrants arrive in the year leading up to April of 2023 – the highest number in 16 years. Some are attracted by its strong economic performance, according to the Central Statistics Office Ireland.
He has said “This is the future of Ireland with me as President.”
McGregor faces an uphill task to get his name on the page, as few Irish lawmakers share his vehement anti-immigrant views and many publicly criticized him after the civil case last November. Last November, McGregor was in a civil suit accusing McGregor of sexually assaulting the complainant in a hotel room in December of 2018, two months after his high-profile loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov in a UFC title fight. According to reports, the woman accused McGregor of choking her and making her fear for her life. McGregor, who has faced no criminal charges related to the incident, has said he and his accuser had consensual sex. This ended with a jury finding Conor McGregor liable for assaulting Nikita Hand in a Dublin hotel room, ordering him to pay her over $250,000 in damages.
Presidential candidates must be nominated by at least 20 of the 234 members of the lower and upper houses of parliament or by four of Ireland’s 31 local councils, according to the country’s electoral commission. It’s said that Conor McGregor’s chances of making the ballot in the Ireland poll are close to zero. He has received endorsements from Elon Musk and Andrew Tate. It’s said that there are no 20 Oireachtas members who would back up Conor, saying McGregor is “too controversial a figure” for them.
Whatever Conor plans on doing this coming November, he will have support from some and some won’t. Which UFC fighter do you think would be a better President?
