“Not the worst idea”
Trump proposes martial arts league for migrants
23.06.2024, 08:57
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For Donald Trump, everything is apparently legitimate in the election campaign. The Republican incited hatred against immigrants at an event with conservative Christians. He is even thinking about his own martial arts league, separate from “normal” fighters.
Donald Trump makes no secret of his enthusiasm for martial arts. The former US president is a regular guest at UFC mixed martial arts events, where he is courted by boss Dana White and enthusiastically celebrated by many fans. Trump has made few friends in the multicultural sport of MMA with a statement he made at a campaign event. He told conservative Christians in Washington that he had presented White with the idea of a “migrant league of fighters” – an important part of his core electorate.
“I said, ‘Dana, I have an idea: Why don’t you start a migrant league of fighters and have your normal league of fighters. And then you have the champion of your league – these are the best fighters in the world – fight the migrant champion. I think the migrant guy could win, they’re that tough,'” Trump said. White “didn’t like that much” about the idea, Trump admitted. “But actually, it’s not the worst idea I’ve ever had.” The former president later repeated these dehumanizing comments at a campaign rally in Philadelphia.
In the UFC, fighters from all over the world compete against each other in mixed martial arts, a full-contact combat sport in which punching and kicking are allowed. When asked about the appearance, White confirmed that Trump had suggested the migrant league to him. He took it as a joke, said the UFC boss.
The former president often uses dehumanizing and inflammatory rhetoric when referring to immigrants. Trump has made stoking fears about undocumented immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border a central part of his re-election campaign. At a campaign rally in Ohio in March, he said he thought some undocumented immigrants were “not human,” and weeks later he said he thought undocumented immigrants who commit violent crimes were “not human” but “animals.”
Following Trump’s latest statements, criticism followed from Joe Biden’s camp. It was fitting for a convicted criminal to make threats against migrants. “Trump’s incoherent, disturbing tirade showed voters in his own words that he is a threat to our freedoms and too dangerous to be allowed anywhere near the White House again,” said the team’s spokeswoman, Sarafina Chitika.
