Donald Trump On Twitter: Mike Tyson Not Asked To Speak At RNC
Mike Tyson and Donald Trump go way back as friends and business cohorts. As seen in the above photo from Tuesday, July 27, 1988, the heavyweight champion spoke at a new conference as Donald looked on. Trump was deemed Tyson’s advisor back in those days in New York, when Mike sued in order to get out of his contract with Bill Cayton. Tyson and Cayton settled out of court, with Bill staying on as Mike’s manager until February 11, 1992.
Well, it was June 28, 2016, when Trump took to Twitter to announce that Tyson would not speak at the Republican National Convention, despite reports to the contrary. Trump published a tweet that attacked the media, let the public know that Mike would not speak at the RNC — and offered a politically correct way to not bash his friend Tyson in the process. Trump wrote that Tyson was not asked to speak at the RNC, but Donald wrote that Mike would do a good job if Tyson were asked to speak at the RNC.
Iron Mike Tyson was not asked to speak at the Convention though I'm sure he would do a good job if he was. The media makes everything up!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2016
As reported by Bloomberg Politics, Trump was organizing folks like Tyson, former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka, infamous former Indiana University basketball coach Bobby Knight, and others to appear in Cleveland next month for the RNC.
When Tyson gave a nod to Trump as a presidential candidate, Donald gave Mike kudos, with Trump saying in Indiana in April that all the “tough guys” endorse him. However, backlash soon followed when folks noted Mike’s conviction for rape that caused him to serve three years in prison. Perhaps it’s because of the backlash that also followed rumblings of Tyson speaking at the RNC that Trump took to Twitter to clarify that Mike would not speak at the RNC.
Whether Tyson and other celebrities still plan to make an appearance at the RNC remains to be seen. Trump has expressed desires for the RNC to contain people who are “winners” — not a collection of boring and milquetoast politicians. Donald has said he wants to do things differently for this RNC.
Indeed, with reports of white nationalist groups planning to show up at the RNC, along with a plethora of planned musical groups at or nearby the convention — as listed in the Bloomberg Politics report — it should prove to be a RNC gathering like no other.
Below, Tyson can be seen again with Trump, as Mike wraps an arm around then wife Robin Givens. Next to Trump is Ruth Roper, Robin’s mother. That foursome showed up at a press conference on July 12, 1988, in New York. Tyson passed along the news that he would only retire for a month or two as he revealed Trump as his advisor — along with the news that Tyson’s former trainer — Kevin Rooney — could be prepared to make his exit from Tyson’s life.
https://twitter.com/FoxH2181/status/746840872688422912
Others saw fit to correct Trump’s English skills in his tweet about Tyson.
@realDonaldTrump If he “were,” not if he “was.” Back to school for you.
Yet and still other replies hit back at Trump’s assertion that the media makes everything up, with at least one person stating that Tyson’s rape conviction was not made up.
@realDonaldTrump he was convicted of rape. Pretty sure that’s not made up.
[Photo by Richard Drew/AP Images]
