If you thought Donald Trump’s presidential campaign couldn’t get any more circus-like, behold: Famously flamboyant boxing promoter Don King joined the GOP candidate on a swing through Ohio.
Why, one might reasonably ask, is King on the trail, aside from the fact that Trump might prefer to be in the company of someone whose hair is even stranger than his? King hails from Cleveland, where Trump held his first event of the day. He’s beloved by many there, but his legacy isn’t without controversy (the city council is currently debating whether to name a street “Don King Way” and one proposal would put the new moniker on “the same street where King stomped a man to death who owed him money in 1966,” according to a local news report.)
And Trump, who has struggled to appeal to black voters, has pointed to King’s endorsement of him in June as defense against critics. “Don King, and so many other African Americans who know me well and endorsed me, would not have done so if they thought I was a racist!” he tweeted.