Former President Trump mused over the weekend about creating an immigrant fighting league to rival the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and described immigrants as “tough” and “mean” in a speech.
President Trump floated the idea at two separate events on Saturday: first at a rally of Christian conservatives in the nation’s capital and later at a rally in Philadelphia.
“They’re tough. They’re really tough,” Trump said during a speech at a Faith and Freedom Coalition event in Washington, DC.
In both speeches, Trump recalled pitching the idea to UFC president Dana White.
“I said, ‘Dana, I have an idea that will make you a lot of money: Start a new Immigrant Fighting League that’s just made up of immigrants,'” Trump recounted at the rally.
He suggested that an eventual fight between the immigrant league champion and the UFC champion could happen.
“I think the immigrants might win, that’s how tough they are. He didn’t really like the idea, but it’s actually not the worst idea I’ve ever had,” Trump told the Christian group. “These people are tough, they’re nasty, they’re nasty.”
Laughter was heard from the audience at the event as Trump mused about the idea.
White told reporters at his post-UFC Saudi Arabia press conference that the conversation he recalled actually happened exactly as Trump remembered it, and that he took it as a joke.
“It was a joke. It was a joke,” White told reporters. “I saw everyone making a big fuss online, but yeah, that’s what he said.”
Trump, 78, is a longtime fan of UFC events and attended fight night with White earlier this month.
Former President Trump has faced criticism for his offensive and dehumanizing rhetoric about migrants crossing the southern border, calling them “poisoning the blood of our nation,” “rapists” and “terrorists.” Trump and his allies often highlight the arrests of people who cross the border illegally for a variety of crimes.
President Biden’s campaign slammed his opponent’s recent comments about the Immigration Fight League. “Trump’s incoherent and erratic rants showed voters that, in his own words, he is a threat to our freedoms and too dangerous to ever again approach the White House,” the campaign said in a statement.
