Trigger warning: contains discussion of sexual assault.
Donald Trump came to the defense of Mike Tyson during the most incendiary moment of the boxer’s career. After the latter was convicted of rape in 1992, Trump voiced his displeasure with the verdict. “You have a young woman that was in his room, his hotel room late in the evening at her own will. You have a young woman who was seen dancing for the beauty contest [the next day], dancing with a big smile on her face, looked happy as could be,” Trump told NBC News at the time (via CNN).
That gesture was never forgotten by Tyson, and years later he showed his loyalty to Trump. The former heavyweight champion endorsed Trump for president in 2015. “He should be president of the United States,” Tyson told Huffington Post Live at the time. The following year, when Trump was in the throes of a heated presidential campaign, Tyson spoke about how he related to his former business partner. “Now he knows what it’s like when everybody is out to get you,” Tyson told the New York Post in March 2016 while mentioning the backlash Trump had faced. “I think it’s a pretty awesome thing that he’s doing so well.”
Trump mentioned Tyson at a campaign rally the next month. “Mike. Iron Mike. You know, all the tough guys endorse me,” he told the crowd (per The Washington Post). Despite the endorsement, Tyson never voted for Trump in 2016 due to his felony record, but the pair stayed in touch.
