(The Hill) – Former President Trump over the weekend mused about the creation of a migrant fighting league to rival the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), characterizing migrants as “tough” and “mean” during stump speeches.
Trump brought up the idea during two separate events Saturday — one during a gathering of Christian conservatives in the nation’s capital and later at a rally in Philadelphia.
“These people are tough. They’re so tough,” Trump said in his speech during the Faith and Freedom Coalition event in Washington, D.C.
In both addresses, Trump recalled that he had floated the idea to UFC head Dana White.
“I said, ‘Dana, I have an idea for you to make a lot of money. You’re going to go and start a new migrant fight league, only migrants,” Trump recalled during the rally.
He suggested the migrant league champion and UFC’s champion could ultimately battle each other.
“I think the migrant guy might win, that’s how tough they are. He didn’t like that idea too much, but actually, it’s not the worst idea I’ve had,” Trump told the Christian group. “These people are tough and they’re nasty, mean.”
Audience members at the events could be heard laughing as Trump mused about the idea.
White told media members during the UFC Saudi Arabia post-fight press conference that the conversation had indeed happened as Trump recalled. He took it as a joke.
“It was a joke. It was a joke,” White told reporters. “I saw everybody going crazy online. But yeah, he did say it.”
Trump, 78, is a longtime fan of UFC events and attended a night of fights alongside White earlier this month.
The former president has faced backlash for offensive and dehumanizing remarks about migrants crossing the southern border, accusing them of ”poisoning the blood” of the country and being “rapists” and “terrorists.” Trump and his allies often shine a spotlight on arrests of people who have crossed the border illegally for various crimes.
President Biden’s campaign blasted his opponent’s latest comments on a migrant fighting league. “Trump’s incoherent, unhinged tirade showed voters in his own words that he is a threat to our freedoms and is too dangerous to be let anywhere near the White House again,” the campaign said in a statement.