Meet the Musk/ McGregor tag team
"No one will fight harder for the people of Ireland than Conor McGregor!" Elon Musk on X
"He might have a say on who is president of the United States but he has no say in terms of who is president of Ireland," Simon Harris, Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister)
Elon Musk and Conor McGregor face-timed yesterday (Mon. Sept 8).
The bro world is abuzz. Cage fighter Conor McGregor, whose best years as one kind of fighter are behind him, wants to mix it up in the political ring by running for Uachtarán na hÉireann (President of Ireland).
What are the odds that he’ll win if he actually makes the ballot?
"Close to zero," Gail McElroy, a professor of political science at Trinity College Dublin, told Sky News. "Conor McGregor is toxic in Ireland.
"There are people with right-wing views or populist views or anti-immigrant views but not enough to affect McGregor. It would be a small minority vote. He's so far out. There are many, many candidates ahead of him," she said
A poll in the Irish Independent found that just 8% of respondents would vote for McGregor, with 89% saying they would not cast a ballot for him. But but but....that poll was published in December 2023.
It’s now September 2025 and McGregor has until Noon on September 24 to round up enough support from elected County politicians in Ireland to get on the Presidential ballot. Good luck with that.
Elon To The Rescue?
While McGregor’s complaining to anyone who will listen about those requirements, he’s also counting on friends he made at the White House over St. Patrick’s Day to gin up support for his candidacy in Ireland.
McGregor and Musk face-timed yesterday (Mon. Sept 8). Afterwards, McGregor unleashed the exchange to his millions of followers on social media, millions of whom don’t live or vote in Ireland. The big problem is, he can’t get enough members of the Oireachtas (Parliament/Congress) to back him. A poll of 134 politicians found that every respondent rejected his candidacy. One said, 'He's a misogynist and a thug. On behalf of the women of Ireland, he can f*** off." Now McGregor is desperately hoping enough local politicians who sit on County councils will back his longshot candidacy.
'”Citizens of Ireland, the time for real change is now. As President, I will not sign any bill of law until it goes to the people first! 'If you want to see my name on the ballot for the Presidency, I urge you to contact your local county councillors today and ask them to nominate me. Our councillors are the backbone of our communities. They work harder and deliver more for the people than those in the Oireachtas, who continue to fail this country time and again,” McGregor pleaded.
Musk won't be able to spend the multi millions on McGregor's candidacy that he did on Trump's last year. Ireland limits campaign spending for the Presidency to 750,000 euros ($880,653).
A Bit of Context
Voters in Ireland will go to the polls (no vote by mail) on October 25 to elect the country’s tenth President. The winner will replace Michael Higgins, who served two seven-year terms in Aras (the Irish White House). Two of the three major political parties – Fine Gael and Sinn Fein – have not chosen a candidate yet. BREAKING - Fianna Fail just nominated Jim Gavin as its candidate. Unlike in America, presidential campaigns are time compressed in Ireland to barely more than a month of electioneering. Remember, the presidency is more about symbolism than substance. It's ceremonial, with job one being to represent Ireland at public events at the national and international level. It is a NON EXECUTIVE presidency.
The Taoiseach (Prime Minister) wields considerably more clout than the President of Ireland. The man in that office, Micheal Martin, who is also head of Fianna Fail, concedes McGregor’s on-line popularity but, “the "ballot box is the key metric, the key determinant of the organization of society, who gets elected into government, who gets elected into local councils."
The President’s salary of $270,000 per year is peanuts compared to what McGregor makes from various business schemes. There’s always talk of one more fight, but the five-time world champion is pretty much retired from cage fighting; he’s now a businessman worth $200 million according to Forbes. In 2021 he was the highest paid athlete in the world, some reports suggest.
The political chatter about McGregor went into high gear when Trump put him on a pedestal over St. Patrick’s Day, spending a lot more time with him than with the Taoiseach. He’s now officially the most popular Irishman in America per a Trump Executive Order (kidding). But it’s probably true and he may be the most (in)famous Mick in the world with his 58 million followers across all social media platforms. (My personal favorite Irishman, Rory McElroy, has 3.4 million. Bono has 10 million.)
How’s this for a Sideshow?
Trump has promised to stage a massive cage match outside the White House on the Fourth of July next year. And McGregor, who has looked dangerously out of shape in recent sparring sessions, has promised to be one of the fighters that day. Could he enter the cage as Uachtarán na hÉireann - President of Ireland? Only if Elon Musk has his way.
