3 days Ago By Brian Mahon
Conor McGregor would be ‘widely rejected’ by the Irish public if he ran for the Presidency, the Public Expenditure Minister has said. Last November, Nikita Hand won her claim against McGregor in a civil trial after accusing the professional MMA fighter of raping her in a Dublin hotel in December 2018. Ms Hand, 35, was awarded damages and costs following a three-week trial in which the jury found him civilly liable for assault.
McGregor, who is appealing against the decision, hosted controversial American conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson in Dublin on Tuesday. Conor McGregor. Pic: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesMcGregor, 36, has signalled his intention to run for the Presidency, though polling has him languishing.
Asked about the topic yesterday, Public Expenditure Minister and Fianna Fáil TD Jack Chambers said: ‘When it comes to Tucker Carlson and Conor McGregor, I think you’ve seen the resounding rejection of Conor McGregor’s attempt to run for the Presidency.‘I think most political parties and Independents completely reject his politics, his rhetoric, his divisive approach to public debate, and I’m sure that will be reflected in his interview with Tucker Carlson. Pic: Sam Boal/Collins Photos‘That type of extreme politics isn’t something that most Irish people would accept, and I think it will be widely rejected if he attempted to run with the Presidency.
I’d be surprised if he received a nomination.’ Carlson was once one of the most powerful political commentators in the US, working on Fox News before he was sacked – reportedly because his views had become too extremist. A Sunday Independent poll recently put McGregor at just 7% of first-preference votes in the race for the Áras.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CILLIAN SHERLOCK.
