Government warned not to ignore McGregor's 'far-right American messaging'
James Cox
Conor McGregor has "completely adopted American far-right messaging" with his anti-immigration rhetoric, according to an expert in global extremism.
The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (Gpahe) "centres its work on countering the threat from the far-right while emphasising human rights and progressive values".
Speaking to BreakingNews.ie, Global Project Against Hate and Extremism co-founder and president Wendy Via said political leaders would be foolish to dismiss McGregor just because his presidential bid looks unlikely.
Ms Via said his recent interview with former Fox News broadcaster Tucker Carlson hit a number of far-right talking points, such as adopting seemingly religious themes and dehumanising migrants.
"I don't know if it's permanent, but during that interview he seemed to be moderating a little bit saying ‘I'm the good guy, I just want to protect my family and my country... I want to be led by God’. I was thinking ‘ok Conor, we'll see’.
"It seems to me that he is completely adopting the American far-right messaging.
"It’s ‘this is what's right and what's good for our people’. He's setting himself up to be a bit of a hero, which is what a lot of far-right figures do, especially political figures.
"I know that McGregor doesn't have any political power right now.
"The people who adopt this far-right messaging, their ability to prey on people, prey on their fears, their economic fears, their safety fears, ‘because immigrants are criminals', as they say."
'Mouthpiece'
While far-right groups in Ireland are divided and not organised, Ms Via said figures like McGregor often become a "mouthpiece" for their movements.
This was evident in the gathering in McGregor's Black Forge Inn pub in Crumlin to welcome Carlson, which included figures from different right wing groups.
"He's a mouthpiece He is able to influence voters. He’s also able to influence the discourse. He can’t pull the conversation to the right alone but he has a huge following on X and he tries to use that.
"Presenting himself as the de facto far-right leader, whether he gets in office or not, he is influencing the conversation, and in a way that does not solve a problem. It just creates fear."
McGregor made a number of false claims in the interview with Carlson. One of those concerned hotels in Co Wexford, with McGregor claiming there were none left in the county because they had all been converted into international protection accommodation.
This is untrue, there are over 100 hotels in the county.
Ms Via this is a typical example of the falsehoods around migration that Carlson likes to spread on his platform.
"Tucker Carlson’s following is primarily American, and Russian for that matter.
"But when Conor McGregor gets on there and says things like the hotels are gone, or conversely the migrants are staying in the nicest hotels or they're getting the best apartments, that kind of thing, then the viewers or listeners just say ‘OK, well, it's becoming global’.
"Tucker Carlson is a platform for this disinformation, he of course he spreads it. They present it as migrants are taking something from us.
"They're taking something that is rightfully yours away, and everybody who is helping them doesn't care about you.
"I don't think McGregor's going to get elected. That could change. Never say never. But I do think that he is going to influence the conversation.
"Not just Trump, in the United States, we have many, many political figures, where people say ‘I'm not endorsing him as a person or I'm not endorsing everything he says, but we do need to look at this’.
"In the debate it can move from how many migrants we're taking in to the dehumanisation of people."
Ms Via said there is a danger in conflating far-right and extreme ideas with conservative policies.
She said the Government should not presume people will not listen to figures like McGregor, despite the fact he does not represent Irish people as he claimed to during his White House meeting with US president Donald Trump on St Patrick's Day.
"If I could give advice to every country which is experiencing a shift to the far-right it is don't ignore what is on the surface or what a person with any kind of common sense would say is simply ridiculous. Or that one person like McGregor, nobody is going to take them seriously.
"We have Trump not once, but twice, and all of the Republican Party behind it. And what you end up with is a situation where the party is being somewhat held hostage by Trump because I do not believe that every Republican is a fringe figure, but they're not able to step out now.
What Conor McGregor says is out there then, even if it’s not true. The more controversial the content, the faster it spreads.
"I mean that's the playbook, it's to have these ‘facts’ and get somebody with a large following and in this case, Tucker Carlson. A lot of people think of him as a very accomplished journalist, even though many don’t, he has a big name and if he backs you, he'll share your false claims. What Conor McGregor says is out there then, even if it’s not true. The more controversial the content, the faster it spreads.
"It is a balance. You don't want to give him a platform. You can dispute the claims without saying ‘well, Conor McGregor is going around saying this’.
"Instead you can say ‘this has been claimed, here are the real facts and figures’.
"What we should not do is say to a person who has questions that ‘you're being hysterical, worried over nothing’.
"Or to claim a government policy on migration is perfect, instead point to where you want to improve it.
"Of course McGregor is different than Trump. I think that one thing we can take away is that is that personalities like these can get into power."
Ms Via added: "Carlson can't get the same kind of interview as he used to get, but he also has a mission to spread the type of message McGregor is sharing. He wants there to be more far-right people in power. He wants to be more far-right policies. He wants there to be Christian overtones to all of it. He wants all of that. And McGregor brings an audience of men, and many young men."
