It was never Dan Le Batard’s intention to discuss politics – let alone in great length – with UFC star [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag]. And yet, that took place this week on an episode of the “South Beach Sessions” podcast.
According to the ESPN Radio host, there was a clamoring from listeners asking him to question Masvidal on his conservative views, including public support for President Donald Trump, which Le Batard said he was unaware of until recently.
Le Batard, a fellow Miami native of Cuban descent, has interviewed Masvidal on several occasions since last year, when “Gamebred” established himself as a bona fide star with a breakout 2019. Le Batard called this time “awkward.”
“This is not a conversation that I wanted to have, but for your edification, you should know that a lot of Cuban people in Miami think the way Jorge Masvidal does politically,” Le Batard said. “… What you have happening in Miami right now is a weird thing where there is only one group with whom Donald Trump has improved his Q rating since 2016, and that is Cubans. I know many of you are weirded out when you see Black Lives Matter protests in Miami, and some Cubans are using the car to hit a protester, or there’s hostility around protests. Cubans think this way because Cuban history goes back to distrusting Democrats, distrusting the media.”
The history of Cuban exiles, such as Masvidal’s father, fleeing after the Cuban revolution of 1959 is well documented. Le Batard’s reference dates back to President John F. Kennedy’s administration in the early 1960s, when tension between the U.S. and Cuba under Fidel Castro was at an all-time high.
Because of this, Le Batard said he understands Masvidal even if he doesn’t agree with him.
“If a Cuban ends up on land here, a Cuban gets to stay here. That is not the case for Haitians. It is not the case for a lot of people. And it’s enough to form your political beliefs around that freedom, because Cubans literally throw their lives to the wind, as Masvidal’s father did in order to get to that freedom,” Le Batard said. “So they become one-issue voters on freedom, and they don’t trust Democrats to give them that freedom because they think Democrats are a little too close to socialism. Anyway, all of this was awkward. It’s not light. It’s not fun. … It doesn’t mean we’re gonna end this relationship, though. We could disagree about politics and still enjoy more superficial pursuit.”
The 45-minute conversation covers a wide spectrum and provides rare insight into Masvidal’s beliefs outside of fighting.
You want to know why? 👇🏼 @LeBatardShow #supernecessary https://t.co/IDetsBzfwb
— Jorge Masvidal UFC (@GamebredFighter) July 21, 2020
You can listen to the interview in its entirety here, or read below on select topics.
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On being labeled racist because of his support for Trump
“What the hell? What is this country itself coming to? I’m racist? I’m racist? People are gonna dare say I’m racist? You know how many times I’ve been shoved in the ground by cops and had my face on the concrete for doing absolutely nothing? Because I’ve been on this journey since I was 13 years old. And for some reason, because I have a tattoo on my neck and I’m a Latin dude, I’ve been discriminated a lot more than you would possibly think possible. I wasn’t always Jorge ‘Gamebred’ Masvidal, all of a sudden everybody knows me. No, no, no, for many years nobody knew me. When people would say I’m racist because I would pick a certain person, that let’s you know where this is going as a society. They’re using now that to wipe away all the good (Trump) has actually done for my community. The lowest unemployment for Latin and Black people, that gives us dignity. That gives my community dignity. People are working and making more money. The pay gaps that have happened in the middle class are nice, are good. It’s numbers, it’s facts. He’s actually helping out my people. And I’m supposed to not give credit for that?
“Do I agree with all his policies? Hell no. There’s a million things that need to change, as well. But I see him doing more right in the sense of freedom and for my Latin people than a lot of other motherf*ckers. And for the Black community, also the lowest Black unemployment rates. That’s huge, man. That’s huge. People are forgetting about that. Now, I don’t know everything about politics, and I don’t know everything about Trump. But when I talk to my mom, who came from a Latin American country, Peru, and she migrated over here, she tells me lots of things. And she’s not against Trump. She feels a lot of things he says are good. Some of things, she’s like, ‘I don’t like this, I don’t like that.’ But it’s not like because she likes Trump or I like Trump or something, it’s not like me and my mom stopped talking or nothing. It’s just crazy that society now is telling you if you’re a Biden fan, well then you’re Antifa or you’re something crazy, and if you’re Trump, you hate transgenders, you hate everything. Basically if you’re a Trump fan, you hate everything. And it’s crazy what society is coming out to.”
On illegal immigration
“If you’re against any minority – Asians, Arabics, Blacks, anything like that – it’s not a good thing. But what I do hear a lot that (Trump’s) against is illegal immigrants. I think illegal immigrants should be treated with respect and dignity, but there has to be rules. It is a country of laws. My mom had to get permission to come here. My dad eventually got permission from the government when he touched ground here. Everybody has to follow laws. So in that regard, I think some things should change, but I’m not a politician. I can’t say what has to change. But every man, woman and child should be treated with dignity when they come to this country. Be told, ‘Hey, you can’t get in here, you got in illegally,’ or whatever it is that happens. But during that process there should be a lot of dignity, because every human deserves that whether they come from Haiti, they come from Mexico, so if there’s problems in that regard, yeah, they need to change overnight.”
On the idea that Republicans uphold capitalism better than Democrats
“Freedom for all. Freedom for every American citizen, resident, visas, whatever. Man, you don’t think … because you said “kind of.” Bernie Sanders is a socialist. I mean, at least from what I hear, that’s like straight-up socialism. And that’s not what this country is. Everybody that left their country and came here to be part of this thing, came here for what? Capitalism. My father, your father, they escaped those governments, because they didn’t want to be told what to do. … Your family lived it, and my family lived it. I’ve always listened. I’d much rather listen to the oldest person in the room than some punk who just got out of college and hasn’t experienced life. That’s the person that I’ve always been. If there’s the current world champion in the room, but there’s an ex-world champion in the room that’s in his 50s, 60s, I want to hear his stories, his thoughts, because he just has more experience in life. You understand what I’m saying?
“So I always listen to my elders. I get as much info from them. And what I hear from people that actually lived it – because it’s one thing to hear about it, read about it, see it on YouTube – my father actually lived it. My uncles and aunts actually lived it. This is something I’ve been hearing since about the age of 7 years old: in one way or another, being politically charged to stand up against communism at all costs. And I say that a hundred percent in my heart: Give me death, or give me freedom. And if you don’t believe it like me, then you’re the problem with society. That’s the honest truth. If you don’t want freedom, and you want to take other people’s freedom away, you’re what’s wrong with society.”
On police brutality against people of color
“Do I agree that there needs to be a policing of the policing? Hell yeah. And I feel that cops needs to be held accountable for their actions. If somebody’s running away, and he poses no threat, no matter what the color of that person is, you can’t take their life away. What are we talking about? How you gonna take this man’s life away that was running away. Once it got to that point, yeah, he won. Let him go. Let him go. Catch him later. You guys got technology nowadays. His car is there. I agree there’s a huge problem there, but Trump didn’t do that. This is happening in democrat cities with democrat governors. How is that Trump’s fault? He’s the one that pulled the trigger? That’s what I’m saying. That’s what they did in Cuba, as well, to divide the people. They’re trying to blame it all on race when this is a problem that can be addressed, that can be fixed.”
On his ‘political imprinting’ being Cuban/capitalism
“Yes and no. For the most part, yes. But do I believe that healthcare … there’s some things that should be fixed. If you don’t have money to afford cancer treatment for the rest of your life, yes, there should be a force that takes care of you for life, so you don’t have to worry about that because you just got dealt wrong cards. Some people are doing so good in life that, not socialism, but you know what I mean. Healthcare should be right. I can’t sit here and discuss healthcare with you. I’m not a healthcare expert. I don’t know what they have to do, but I believe it should just be something that is fair for everybody in their condition. I don’t know how that comes through. You get the smartest guys in the world to sit down and write those plans out in those regards. But in a lot of things, yeah, I am, I guess you would say, a conservative Republican or something.”
On using Twitter hashtags for QAnon, a far-right conspiracy theory
“Do I agree with everything that’s on this website? No. And why I did that was just to spark talk. Now, when we go to the mainstream media, yeah, you should get some of your information from there. But I could tell you this, and this is just simple. Like, if people listening didn’t figure this out, you can thank me later. When you see me on the street, you can buy me a shot of my Recuerdo. And this is just simple math: If I have a news channel, and XYZ company, some brand company, is giving me millions of dollars to run their ads on my thing, and then a press report comes out saying, ‘This shampoo is not good for your hair, and there’s proven studies in New Zealand from it, and people are going bald from it.’ Do you think, in my news channel, I can pass that when this is one of my main sponsors? Would that be practical business? Would that be good business? … I see the danger and spark some thought and go out there and research on your own. I’m not saying trust these people or nothing. I’m just saying go and do the research. Just like I do on a daily basis when my day’s done, and I want to see where is this world headed to, I dig on my own. I’ll read a book, talk to friends, I’ll research online. I just don’t take your word for it. Your word is not the one-all-come-all. Your word, and that goes for everybody’s word. I’m gonna go out there and research this stuff, and some things I’ve seen on there are crazy as hell, and some things I’ve see on there are just to provoke thought. …
“Definitely I’m not affiliating myself with QAnon. Like I said, I was provoking thought there. Like, ‘Hey, this is some crazy stuff. What’s going on here? Check this out.’ That’s it. I’m not telling nobody to believe that word for word. All I’m telling everybody, anybody listening to me, do your own research, man. Do your own homework. That’s it. That’s all I’m saying.”
On being skeptical about COVID-19
“Not everything you can believe in the media. Right before coronavirus officially hit, I was on the way to Australia. I got on the (World Health Organization website) to check what’s going on. This organization is getting, literally, billions of dollars, and at this time, this is like a week before they declared it a pandemic, they were saying it wasn’t a pandemic. It was safe to travel, and it was even safe to travel to Australia. Shortly when I got back, there were thousands of cases of corona in Australia. So how you gonna tell me to believe anything blind? I’m gonna just constantly be diligent, just like I am about fighting. I treat the news that I’m gonna inhale, as well, I’m gonna be diligent about it. Why am I gonna be lazy with my own future? I went to the WHO, I went to numerous other places, and they said, ‘No, this is not a pandemic. It’s OK to travel to these places.’ Literally a week later when I got back, the whole world shut down. They were saying all this other crazy stuff about a mask doesn’t do anything, then a mask does do (something). Now all of a sudden we’re supposed to believe that corona’s killing everybody in Florida. That’s a lie. The death rates are dropping.
“(American Top Team coach) Mike Brown had gone through a series of tests to get up to that point (of testing positive before UFC 251). He didn’t see nobody else different other than his girlfriend that’s a nurse that gets tested regularly that was negative the whole time, saw my group, and my group has been quarantined. I just did about seven tests just to be able to land on the island in (Abu Dhabi), and then like two more tests to get to the actual fight. Mike Brown gave one negative and one positive. Maybe these tests are not as accurate as we think, is another thing. … If you want to just believe everything, that’s on you. But I’m not that person.”
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