McGregor, Fuentes said, needed to “salvage the country because it’s either going to be the Irish or it’s going to be the blacks … only one side is going to come out of this alive.”
Some far-right influencers in the US have also pushed elements of the great replacement theory, a conspiracy claiming that a globalist elite is working with Western governments to force out native populations through immigration.
Tucker Carlson, who now broadcasts his show on X, told his millions of followers that “the Irish government is trying to replace the population of Ireland with people from the third world.”
Former White House adviser and 2020 election conspiracist Steve Bannon, who is currently strategizing for former US president Donald Trump, responded to Carlson by declaring: “Ireland is a powder keg.”
Meanwhile, Catturd, the hugely influential pro-Trump account on X run by Florida shitposter Phillip Buchanan, told his 2 million followers to make the hashtag #IrishLivesMatter trend—which many duly did.
Elon Musk, who this week told X advertisers to “go fuck yourself,” also weighed in, claiming on X that the Irish prime minister “hates the Irish people,” and agreeing with another far-right influencer who posted on X saying Ireland needed McGregor to run for office. “Not a bad idea,” Musk wrote in reply.
McGregor, who, just 24 hours before the riots broke out, posted “Ireland, we are at war” to his 10 million followers on X, has become a lightning rod for international and local far-right support. McGregor has not fought an MMA fight for more than two years and has since spent much of his time outside of Ireland, including in his home in Florida. His social media posts over the past year have become increasingly political and have been directly influenced by many of the same far–right figures who encouraged their followers to meet in the center of Dublin ahead of the riots. The Irish police are currently investigating the riots, and McGregor is one of many currently under investigation for alleged incitement to hatred.
In far-right Telegram channels, poorly-generated AI images of McGregor proliferated, showing him in various poses ranging from standing patriotically in front of a burning bus to debating in parliament, as well as ones of a bare-chested McGregor holding a rifle and leading a mob of similarly-armed Irishmen. “Rebellion 2023?” wrote the operator of the far-right Telegram channel who posted an image.