The 2024 U.S. presidential election has had a lot of sports discourse. Some of that came Monday, the final day before Election Day, from Republican nominee and former president Donald Trump.
In particular, at a rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Monday night, Trump discussed the Penn State wrestling team, saying “I wanted them to wrestle the migrants.” And he then took that immigration discourse further still, bringing back a previous reference from June to how he’d asked UFC CEO Dana White about setting up a “migrant league” and having the victor there take on a UFC champion:
Trump: Those Penn state guys, I wanted them to wrestle the migrants. I told the Dana White. I told him to set up his league of champions and a migrant league. I want the migrant to go against the champion. I think migrant might win. That’s how nasty some are pic.twitter.com/4vwwSXSUQz
— Acyn (@Acyn) November 5, 2024
“Oh, those Penn State guys, I wanted them to wrestle the migrants. I told, you know, the UFC, Dana White. They killed me on this. I told him to set up your league of champions, unbelievable, best fighters in the world, and a migrant league.
“At the end, I want the migrant to go against the champion. And I think the migrant might actually win. That’s how nasty some of these guys are. But I don’t know, I doubt that. I tell you, I felt very comfortable with those big Penn State wrestlers.”
As Trump notes in that speech, it doesn’t seem like the idea of a “migrant league” of MMA with a champion facing off against a UFC champion is actually going to happen. But this is still a remarkable thing to bring up in a campaign-closing address.
It’s not the only sports reference Trump made Monday, though. In an earlier rally in Reading, Pennsylvania on Monday afternoon, he took issue with the changed NFL kickoff rules this year:
One day before the election, Donald Trump rants about the NFL Dynamic Kickoff during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania. pic.twitter.com/519zzFpeXx
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 4, 2024
“Speaking of football, maybe we can get the NFL to drop that ridiculous kickoff thing. I mean, what the hell are they…what is that? I watched a game the other day and said ‘What the hell just happened? They just kicked off and nobody moved. Oh well, that’s up to them.”
Trump is far from the only critic of the NFL kickoff changes this season. But it’s particularly interesting to see him using so much final-day campaign time on sports.
Of course, sports have long been a focus for Trump. He previously made headlines for attending the Georgia-Alabama college football game in September, and he was set at one point to attend Saturday’s Ohio State-Penn State game before pulling out. And he’s had a lot to say on the campaign trail about a lot of sports topics, from Olympic boxing to Mountain West volleyball to Arnold Palmer and the NFL overall. But it’s definitely notable to see some of his final-day remarks cover everything from NFL kickoffs to Penn State wrestling to a “migrant league” of MMA fighters.
[Acyn on X]