Mike Tyson predicts ‘Trump will win’ midterms

Former professional boxer Mike Tyson popped up at the White House on Friday, briefly speaking to reporters in the West Wing briefing room and pledging support for President Trump.

Tyson told reporters he was asked by the White House to travel with Trump to Syracuse, N.Y., for a rally the president is slated to host there.

The boxer laughed when journalists in the briefing room asked him what he and Trump planned to talk about and prompted a White House staffer to jokingly interject “no tough questions,” as people in the room laughed.

Asked how Republicans would fare in the midterm elections, Tyson responded, “I think Donald Trump will win.”

Trump has been traveling nearly every day to various states around the country to rally support for the GOP, in some cases traveling with notable sports figures like former MLB pitcher Roger Clemens and current members of the Baltimore Ravens.

Tyson and Trump’s friendship goes back years, and crews for an upcoming Netflix documentary about his life reportedly traveled to the White House recently to speak with the president about the boxer’s career and their friendship.

Their history stretches to the 1980s. As a businessman, Trump served as Tyson’s business adviser and later defended the boxer before and after he was convicted of rape in 1992. Trump later appeared among several celebrities at Tyson’s first fight after he was released from prison — against Peter McNeeley in 1995.

The president has sought to attach himself to fighting sports in recent months, holding a primetime UFC fight on the White House lawn this summer.

Tyson appeared at the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) summit in Washington last month on a panel focusing on the “MAHA Athlete,” and he participated in a Super Bowl ad earlier this year promoting the MAHA campaign and urging people to eat “real food.”