NBA player turned MMA fighter announces congressional campaign, will run against Ilhan Omar

Another MMA fighter has jumped into the political fray.

Royce White, a former NBA first-round pick and current MMA fighter, launched his bid for a U.S. Congress seat Tuesday. The fighter will run for Minnesota’s fifth congressional U.S. representative seat, currently held by Democrat Ilhan Omar. White is running as a Republican—one of several vying to oust the incumbent Omar.

”I’m running for Congress because our leaders have sold us out,” White said in a two-minute campaign video. ”We have to fight for freedom, we have to protect our communities. We have to restore what it means to be an American citizen.”

White goes on to refer to Omar as a “globalist” (a term that is viewed as an antisemetic slur) and a “puppet of the establishment.” He also spoke out against the U.S. government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and vaccine mandates, overlaying his voice-over in the clip with pictures of Anthony Fauci, Barack Obama, and Bill Gates.