UFC veteran calls out Donald Trump for misplaced criticism, highlights El Salvador's crime drop: "Should learn from him instead of attacking him"

A UFC veteran has backed the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, while boldly criticizing Donald Trump for his comments about Bukele's decisions instead of taking notes from him.

At the Republic National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the 45th President accused the El Salvadorian leader of sending criminals to the United States. Trump said:

"Our crime rates are going up while crime statistics all over the world are going down because they’re taking their criminals and putting them into our country. A certain country [El Salvador], and I happen to like the president of that country very much but he’s been getting great publicity because he’s a wonderful shepherd of the country. He says how well the country is doing because their crime rates are down, and he’s said he’s training all these rough people, they’re all rough, rough, rough."

He further stressed the incapability of Bukele and highlighted how different the outcome would have been in El Salvador if he had been the leader of that country:

"Then I realized he’s not training them... He’s sending all of his criminals, his drug dealers, his people that are in jails, he’s sending them all to the United States and he’s different and that he doesn’t say that. He is trying to convince everybody what a wonderful job he does at running the country. Well, he’s doesn’t do a wonderful job and by the way, If I ran one of the countries, many countries, many, many countries from all over, I would be worse than any of them. I would have the place totally emptied out already."

Among the many rebuking the former President's claims was Jake Shields, the former Strikeforce middleweight champion and a former UFC welterweight title challenger, who reiterated how efficient Bukele has been at reducing El Salvador's crime rates and managing its state affairs:

"In 2015, El Salvador had 103 murders per 100,000 people. In 2023, they had 2.4 murders per 100,000. That is a drop of 5,000%. Burke is a great leader, and Trump should learn from him instead of attacking him. Arrest El Salvador gangsters, deport them, and let Burke deal with them"

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