Conor McGregor was the Trump administration’s guest of honor at the White House St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. The Irish mixed martial arts champion used the opportunity to promote right-wing, anti-immigration policies for his homeland.

“It’s about time that America is made aware of what’s going on in Ireland. What is going on in Ireland is a travesty. Our government is the government of zero action with zero accountability,”

he said, adding that the country was being overrun by violent illegal immigrants. “In 10 years, Dublin city center has gone from one of the safest cities in Europe to one of the most dangerous!” he claimed.

McGregor, an aspiring politician, clearly came to Washington, D.C., to seek the endorsement of the 45th and 47th president, describing him as “inspiring.” The two chatted in front of a map identifying, in overly large letters, the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.” He also laid out a plan to make Ireland great again, one which largely revolved around the “mass deportation of dangerous, criminal, and radicalized imports,” who, he alleged, “are a strain on our welfare system” and have “made no effort to secure employment or assimilate with Irish culture and values.”

Clearly, then, the celebrity fighter is positioning himself as a leader in the emerging far-right, anti-immigration movement in Europe and has even announced his intention to run for president of Ireland this year. “I am the only logical choice. 2025 is coming,” he said in September. He has already received the endorsement of several high-profile right-wing figures, including Andrew Tate and Elon Musk. A 2023 poll found, however, that only 8% of Irish voters would cast a ballot for him.

 

 

A History of Racism and Violence

Just a few days before the poll was taken, McGregor had helped incite an Islamophobic riot in Dublin. After an Algerian-born Muslim man nonfatally stabbed four people (including three children), a massive, racist mob swept through Ireland’s capital, looting shops, destroying buses and cars, and assaulting more than 60 police officers.

McGregor appeared to endorse the violence. “Ireland, we are at war,” he declared to his tens of millions of followers. “There is grave danger among us in Ireland that should never be here in the first place,” he said as Dublin burned. “Make change or make way. Ireland for the victory,” he added.

He also took aim at the government, who, he claimed, was downplaying the threat of the Islamization of Ireland. “The Irish PM hates the Irish… The current Irish government clearly cares more about praise from woke media than their own people,” he said. His comments were investigated by the police for incitement to violence.

This was not the first time the fighter had attacked the government. Indeed, that same week, he labeled Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar a “disgrace” for failing to adequately condemn Hamas. Reacting to the news of the release of Irish-Israeli girl Emily Hand, Varadkar tweeted, “This is a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family. An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief. Our prayers have been answered.”

McGregor, however, was incensed by the message. “She was abducted by an evil terrorist organization,” he replied. “What is with you and your government and your paid for media affiliates constantly down playing / attempting to repress horrific acts that happen to children. You are a disgrace. The day after a stabbing of children in Ireland, NOT ONE PAPER HAD IT ON THEIR FRONT COVER. We will not forget,” he added, referencing the previous Dublin stabbing incident.

More recently, he called for protestors demonstrating against Israel’s continuing atrocities to be arrested, noting that some of them were waving Hezbollah flags. “To raise the flag of a terrorist organization on Irish soil must become a major crime in the eyes of our state. It will not be tolerated nor lauded!  Raise a country flag, off your own person, and off of government buildings, yes, no problem. Raise the flag of radicalized terror organizations off of the same.. Big problem,” he wrote, in characteristically poor English.

While his pro-Israel stances have earned him plaudits from far-right groups and pro-Israel organizations such as Stop Antisemitism, it has increasingly alienated him from his compatriots, who have come out in strong support of Palestinian liberation. “Conor McGregor has never been elected to anything, he doesn’t represent the Irish people. In fact, we’re all pretty embarrassed by him,” said Colum Eastwood, MP. Last week, McGregor was loudly booed at a Limp Bizkit concert in Dublin.

McGregor’s athletic career was littered with racist incidents. In 2015, while fighting against a Brazilian opponent, he assumed the personality of a colonialist: “I own this town. I own Rio de Janeiro. I would invade his favela on horseback, and kill anyone not fit to work,” he said. “But we are in a new time,” he lamented, “so I’ll whoop his ass in July.”

Two years later, he told his Black opponent, Floyd Mayweather, to “dance for me, boy” and described his Black bodyguards as “monkeys.” And in 2018, he provocatively offered alcohol to his opponent Khabib Nurmagomedov, a devout Muslim, and called his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, a “mad terrorist.”

If Dublin truly is a more dangerous place than it was ten years ago, as McGregor claims, the Irishman himself has played a significant role in its transformation. In 2019, he was convicted of sucker-punching an elderly man in a city bar. And in November, a jury awarded over $250,000 to a woman who said he raped her. The woman in question needed surgery to remove her tampon after the rape.

Ireland Resists the Far-Right Surge

McGregor’s antics and actions have earned him a massive online following but have cost him the respect of much of his country. Sponsors have pulled out of deals with the star, and gyms across Ireland have painted over murals depicting him as somebody to look up to. “The one thing that unifies Irish people more than anything else is their hatred for Conor McGregor,” Irish journalist Seán Hickey noted.

Although geographically situated in Western Europe, Ireland’s history is that of a colonized nation rather than a colonizer, making it almost unique among its neighbors. As such, the Irish public has always sympathized with the underdog. On Palestine, the country has remained steadfast in its opposition to Israeli actions. Far-right, anti-immigration politics has achieved far less of a foothold on the Emerald Isle than in other parts of Europe.

Like McGregor, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) – the body that oversees big-money mixed martial arts contests – has strongly aligned itself with the emerging global far-right movement. UFC CEO Dana White is one of Trump’s most vocal supporters and closest advisors. Recently, Trump appointed former UFC spokesperson Steven Cheung as his new White House Communications Director.

One exception to this is UFC champion Nurmagomedov, who defeated McGregor in 2018. At a packed UFC event in January, he told Irish fans:

Don’t forget: Ireland is the biggest supporter in the world for Palestine. Don’t forget about this. We love you guys, your government, everybody…We love you guys, because you guys support our brothers in Palestine.”

In many ways, then, Nurmagomedov represents the people of Ireland far better than the racist, xenophobic hatred that McGregor and his ilk are trying to sell to the country.

Feature photo | White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt listens as UFC fighter Conor McGregor speaks with reporters in the briefing room of the White House, March 17, 2025, in Washington. Evan Vucci | AP