'Toxic': Conor McGregor’s White House visit highlights fractured relationship between UFC star, Irish homeland

Irish professional mixed martial artist and businessman Conor McGregor speaks from the White House briefing room podium in Washington, DC, on March 17, 2025. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images) — Conor McGregor speaks on St. Patrick's Day from the White House briefing room podium in Washington, DC. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Last week at a Limp Bizkit concert in Dublin’s 3 Arena, the same venue wherein Conor McGregor boarded his rocket ship to UFC superstardom 11 years prior with a knockout of Diego Brandao, just the mention of the former two-division champion's name drew a boisterous boo from the sold-out Irish crowd.

Many would have wagered that there would be no better example of how far his stock has plummeted in his homeland, at least for the month of March. Yet, after being received as a guest of U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on St. Patrick’s Day this past Monday, the outpouring of anger within Ireland directed at the once-celebrated UFC star has been palpable.

Since the 1950s, the Taoiseach, the head of the Irish state, has regularly visited the White House on March 17, a day dedicated to the country’s foremost patron saint. This year, the current Taoiseach Micheál Martin visited five days before McGregor, who took to the dais on Monday and unleashed a warning to Irish-Americans that “the immigration racket is running ravage (sic) on [Ireland].”

Reaction

Both McGregor’s presence and declarations at the White House garnered criticism by a number of Irish government officials, with Martin underlining that McGregor has no democratic mandate.

“St. Patrick’s Day around the world is a day rooted in community, humanity, friendship and fellowship,” Martin posted on X. “Conor McGregor’s remarks are wrong, and do not reflect the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, or the views of the people of Ireland.”

Speaking in New York on the same day, Tánaiste Simon Harris — the second ranking member of the Irish government — echoed Martin’s sentiments.

“I know there’s a real sense back home though in relation to Conor McGregor being in the White House yesterday of disgust,” Harris said.

“But let me say this as a representative of the government of Ireland and to the people of Ireland: Conor McGregor does not only not speak for Ireland, he doesn’t only not represent our values, he’s actually the opposite of all of the values we’re proud about in Ireland. He represents the very worst of toxic masculinity and I think we need to be very clear on that.”

A sampling of Irish coverage of Conor McGregor's St. Patrick's Day visit. (Photo via Petesy Carroll)

McGregor’s visit garnered front page news across many of Ireland's national publications, with opinion pieces within citing “widespread outrage” and others declaring that it was embarrassment to the country.

It was also featured on bulletins across radio outlets nationwide and was featured on prime time news segments ran by the national broadcaster, RTE, and Virgin Media.

'A sinister event'

McGregor’s visit to the White House came four months after a High Court civil jury found he sexually assaulted Nikita Hand in Dublin hotel in 2018, awarding the plaintiff approximately €250,000. The mixed martial artist is currently in the midst of appealing the court’s findings.

In the aftermath of Hand winning the civil case, more than 1,000 retailers boycotted products associated with McGregor across the U.K. and Ireland. The company that owns the whiskey brand he co-founded, Proper 12, also announced that would no longer be using his likeness or image on the products.

On Tuesday, the Dublin Rape Crisis Center contacted the US embassy in relation to McGregor’s White House visit, describing it as a “very sinister event”.

Speaking to RTÉ, the charity’s CEO Rachel Morrogh said: “[Monday's] meeting was a very sinister event and it needs to be called out for what I believe it was, which on one hand was normalizing sexual violence and on the other hand an attempt to rebuild the very damaged reputation of Conor McGregor.”

“What is sobering and shocking is that the office of the president of the U.S., which is so respected and trusted and esteemed, is being used for both of those things. And on St Patrick's Day, that office was used to launder Conor McGregor’s reputation. Every backslap, every word of flattery, every aspect of that meeting showed a really callous indifference to every survivor of sexual violence.”

She added: “There has been a really strong reaction amongst the Irish public that this is not something they agree with, and I hope that [Monday's] performance doesn’t have a chill effect on people coming forward.”

Irish UFC fighter Conor McGregor speaks at the briefing room lectern, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt at his side, during a visit to the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 17, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque — Conor McGregor speaks at the briefing room lectern, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt at his side. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

Presidential hopes

McGregor has been endorsed for a presidential role by the likes of Elon Musk and Andrew Tate. Despite the Irish presidency being a predominantly ceremonial institution, McGregor underlined his intention to run for election during a January trip to the U.S. for President Trump’s inauguration.

In December 2023, nearly a year before his highly publicized civil court case, a Ireland poll showed that only 8% of people would vote for Conor McGregor, with 89% of people polled claiming they would not vote for him.

In an interview with Sky News, Gail McElroy, a professor of political science at Trinity College Dublin, gave McGregor a “close to zero” chance of even being nominated to run for presidential election.

“There's two hurdles. First, you have to get nominated and then you have to win a majority of the vote. Both of those hurdles are almost insurmountable [for McGregor],” said McElroy.

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Candidates for the Irish presidency can be nominated in two ways, one of which is securing 20 nominations from of the Oireachtas — the houses of Irish parliament.

“There's a lot of [Oireachtas members] — 60 senators and 174 TDs [Irish MPs], but most of those are party affiliated and they won't nominate [McGregor],” McElroy explained.

The other way a candidate can be nominated via local authorities, like county councils. McElroy, however, thinks McGregor’s chances of gaining an endorsement this way are unlikely.

"You're talking about different types of characters," McElroy said. "You know Mary Davis, who runs the Special Olympics [who ran for president in 2011]. It's likable candidates who county councils feel should have the option to run. Conor McGregor is toxic in Ireland. I think it's almost inconceivable that four county councils would endorse him.”

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