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.
Please subscribe to the Bloody Elbow Substack. Paid subscriptions there fund Bloody Elbow during its transition from being a Vox Media property to an independent publication (a change that began on April 1, 2023). Your paid subscriptions are helping build our new site and keeping hope alive that our staff will remain in tact. If you haven’t already, please pledge with a paid subscription today.
To read more of Karim’s work, consider subscribing to his Sports Politika newsletter.
About the author
