Conor McGregor said he “spoke from the heart” while being interviewed by Tucker Carlson in his Dublin pub after the pair embarked on a tour of the Irish capital.
McGregor, 36, and the former Fox News host sat down in The Black Forge Inn in Crumlin on Tuesday evening for a two-hour chat to discuss the embattled former UFC champion’s political views.
It came just weeks after McGregor, who has become increasingly vocal in his right-wing populist and anti-immigration stance, announced that he will run for the Irish presidency in elections later this year after meeting U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House on St. Patrick’s Day last month.
“We had a great chat with Tucker Carlson highlighting the issues Ireland is facing, Ireland’s plight, Ireland’s fight and also Ireland’s delight,” McGregor said inside the pub Tuesday, according to The Irish Times.
“It’s not all doom and gloom, and we want to keep a positive outlook and move incrementally, step by step, to a better Ireland.”
“I spoke from my heart and we’ll see how it goes,” he added, and said he was looking forward to the conversation being “absorbed by the Irish public.”
McGregor said that Carlson, the right-wing media pundit who has since interviewed the likes of Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on his network since being fired by Fox News in 2023, had a “great listening ear.”
The interview, which had not been released at the time of writing, is expected to be broadcast on Carlson’s channels.
The MMA artist issued a public invitation to X on Monday and promised a “celebratory atmosphere. " He then stated that he was “put on this earth to serve and protect” his home nation.
Dublin City Councilor Malachy Steenson, known for his anti-immigration views, and former Teachta Dála for Fianna Fáil, a center-right party in the Republic of Ireland, Conor Lenihan, were among the guests, along with two attendees sporting MAGA caps.
“President McGregor,” shouted a man posing for photos standing beside an open bar.
Carlson and McGregor were both photographed inside The Black Forge beside South Dublin County Councillor Glen Moore.
The Road House star used his visit to the White House on March 17 to make a plea to the U.S. government about the “illegal immigration racket is running ravage on the country.”
“Our government is the government of zero action with zero accountability,” he told reporters beside White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. “Our money is being spent on overseas issues that is nothing to do with the Irish people.”
McGregor is estimated to have little chance of gaining the necessary support to run for the Irish presidency from 20 members of the Oireachtas—Irish parliament—or the endorsement of at least four local authorities.
His political ambitions were announced as he appeals a High Court civil jury’s finding that he raped a woman in a Dublin hotel.
Last November, Nikita Hand, 35, also known as Nikita Ni Laimhin, won her claim against McGregor after accusing the professional fighter of committing the assault in December 2018.
McGregor, who denies the allegations, has said he had consensual sex with the woman and is appealing against the verdict. Last month, the Court of Appeal in Dublin heard that a motion will be brought to adduce alleged new evidence in early May.
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