Irish MMA fighter Conor McGregor announced on Monday that he is pulling out of the country’s upcoming presidential race, though he emphasized that his “commitment to Ireland does not end here.”
Widely known by his nickname “The Notorious,” McGregor has been a prominent voice in Ireland’s anti-immigration movement and was received by former U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House during this year’s St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.
McGregor’s political ambitions have been clouded by controversy. He was found liable in a civil rape case last November and is currently facing a U.S. federal civil lawsuit from a woman who alleges he sexually assaulted her in Miami in June 2023.
“After careful consideration and discussions with my family, I have decided to withdraw from the presidential race,” McGregor stated on social media platform X.
In a detailed message, he criticized Ireland’s electoral system, which requires either the support of 20 members of parliament or endorsement from four local councils to secure a spot on the ballot. He called the process a “democratic deficit” that disregards the will of what he described as the “‘forgotten Irish’—those who feel abandoned and ignored by the Establishment’s woke politics.”
