Masvidal visits Trump at Mar-a-Lago hours after arraignment 

UFC fighter Jorge Masvidal visited Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago shortly following the former president’s historic arraignment.

By: Karim Zidan | 6 months ago
Masvidal visits Trump at Mar-a-Lago hours after arraignment 
March 5, 2022, Las Vegas, NV, LAS VEGAS, NV, United States: LAS VEGAS, NV - March 5: Jorge Masvidal at T-Mobile Arena for UFC 272: Covington vs Masvidal on March 5, 2022, in Las Vegas, NV, United States. Las Vegas, NV United States - ZUMAp175 20220305_zsa_p175_238 Copyright: xLouisxGrassex

UFC star Jorge Masvidal visited Donald Trump shortly following the former U.S. president’s historic arraignment in New York on criminal charges. 

Masvidal, who is scheduled to compete at UFC 287 on Saturday, appeared at a Trump rally in Florida before visiting the former president at his home in Mar-a-Lago. Trump had just returned from a Manhattan courtroom, where he pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges. 

“I didn’t even sneak in here,” Masvidal said as he arrived at the rally. “This is Trump Nation.”

While it is unclear whether Masvidal spent any time with Trump during his visit, the UFC star developed an unlikely friendship over the past few years. The Cuban-American fighter campaigned for Trump during the 2020 presidential cycle, speaking at various rallies and taking part in the “Fights Against Socialism” bus tour orchestrated by Donald Trump Jr. 

During the four-part event, which took place in October 2020, take place across the state of Florida, including Tampa, Orlando, Coconut Creek, and Miami, the UFC fighter relayed the “horrors” of socialism while imploring attendees not to allow the Democrats to destroy American freedoms.

“Obviously I am not a politician,” Masvidal told the crowd in attendance. “I may not be schooled in a lot of these political issues like some of you, but I do know Latinos. Latinos are not lazy people looking for a handout. Latinos don’t want free stuff, we want freedom.”

Following Trump’s defeat in the 2020 elections, Masvidal was among the fighters who spread misinformation about alleged voter fraud. He retweeted a photoshopped picture of Al Gore being proclaimed the winner of the 2000 presidential election and threatened to leave threatened to leave Twitter after the social media platform permanently banned Trump following the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. 

As Masvidal attended Trump’s rally, the former president took aim at Defence Attorney Alvin Bragg, whom he claimed was targeting him in a politically motivated attack. He also referred to Judge Juan Merchan as a ‘Trump-hating judge’.

“This fake case was brought only to interfere with the upcoming 2024 election and it should be dropped immediately,” Trump said, referring to the alleged $130,000 hush money payment made during his first presidential campaign. 


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About the author
Karim Zidan
Karim Zidan

Karim Zidan is a investigative reporter and feature writer focusing on the intersection of sports and politics. He has written for BloodyElbow since 2014 and has served as an associate editor since 2016. He also writes for The New York Times and The Guardian. Karim has been invited to speak about his work at numerous universities, including Princeton, and was a panelist at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and the Oslo Freedom Forum. He also participated in the United Nations counter-terrorism conference in 2021. His reporting on Ramzan Kadyrov’s involvement in MMA, much of which was done for Bloody Elbow, has led to numerous award nominations, and was the basis of an award-winning HBO Real Sports documentary.

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