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President Donald Trump remembered his friend and boxing legend Mike Tyson for defending him against accusations of racism, during his Black History Month speech at the White House on Wednesday.
Trump’s mention of Tyson came as the president praised some of the most famous Black athletes in American history, including Tyson, boxing legends Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard, and NFL legend Lawrence Taylor.
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“Mike Tyson, man, I’ll tell you, Mike has always been honest with me. Whenever they come out and say ‘Trump is racist!’ Mike Tyson goes, ‘He’s not racist! He’s my friend, he’s been there since the beginning. Good times and bad,” Trump said.
“But Mike Tyson is a good guy and he was honest, always honest.”
Trump and Tyson have a friendship that dates back to the 1980s during Tyson’s time as a boxer and Trump’s rise to prominence as a New York City real estate developer.
Tyson has contributed to many initiatives under the Trump administration.
Tyson stood with the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who partnered with the Trump administration to fight obesity in early February. During the Super Bowl, Tyson spoke in a commercial about the importance of addressing the US’s reliance on processed foods. In the ad,
BOXER MIKE TYSON DISCUSSES HEALTH, REAL FOOD AND THE TRUMP RELATIONSHIP
Last summer, Tyson previously wrote a letter to Trump urging him to reclassify Cannabis as a less dangerous substance. Tyson led a coalition of other athletes and entertainers, including Kevin Durant and Ricky Williams, pushing for the change.
It paid off in December, when Trump reclassified Cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III, which is considered dangerous and more useful in medical research.
Trump praised other black American athletes at the event
To Ali: “Muhammad Ali, who was my friend, I put a picture of myself with Muhammad. It was another job. He taught the best, but he was able to fight the best in the end.”
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On Taylor: “Lawrence Taylor, a great friend, Lawrence, the great Lawrence Taylor, the greatest defensive player in probably the history of football, he’s my best friend. But I’ve been around longer than him. You know what he’s saying? Take a walk back because it takes the club back this far and you hit it 200 yards. If you can do that, you’re strong, you’re strong. You’re a good man.
Former New York Giants quarterback Lawrence Taylor (56) is shown sacking Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Craig Erickson during their Sept. 12 game. 1993 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. (MARK D. PHILLIPS/AFP via Getty Images)
On former NFL star Herschel Walker: “Herschel Walker speaking honestly. What a great football player he was. Herschel. Yes, Herschel Walker is now the ambassador to the Bahamas.”
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