- Donald Trump said he has proposed an “immigrant fighter league” to UFC president Dana White.
- Trump shared his thoughts at the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in Washington.
- “That was a joke,” Dana White said, “but he certainly said that.”
Donald Trump told an audience on Saturday that he has proposed an “immigrant fighter league” to Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White.
Trump was addressing Christian conservatives at the Faith & Freedom Coalition's “Path to the Majority” conference in Washington.
“Has anybody heard of Dana White?” Trump said at the event. “He's a legend, right?”
“I said, 'Dana, I have an idea,'” the former president continued. “What if we had a league of immigrant fighters and a league of regular fighters, and we pitted the champions of those leagues — the best fighters in the world — against the immigrant champions. Maybe the immigrants would win, because they're that tough.”
“He didn't really like the idea, but it wasn't the worst idea I've ever had,” he added.
President Joe Biden's campaign was quick to respond, criticizing the former president's comments.
“It is fitting that a convicted Donald Trump threatened to round up Hispanics at a religious conference, bragged about taking away Americans' freedoms and promised to become even more extreme if he regains power,” said Sarafina Chitica, a spokeswoman for the Biden campaign.
“Trump's incoherent and erratic rants showed voters that, in his own words, he is a threat to our freedoms and too dangerous to ever be allowed anywhere near the White House again,” she added.
Asked about Trump's comments, White, who has run UFC since 2001, said: “That was a joke.”
“I saw everyone making a fuss online, but he definitely said that,” he added.
Trump has made immigration a core part of his policy since his 2016 presidential election and has frequently criticized Biden on the issue in his recent campaign for the White House.
During his speech at the Faith and Freedom Union, Trump repeated the dehumanizing language he has used on the campaign trail, describing immigrants as “nasty, nasty and tough.”
The former president also drew attention to the border issue during a speech in Michigan earlier this month, calling immigrants “animals” and “not human.”
Business Insider has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
