Trump Has Terrible Judgment As He Brags About Mike Tyson Endorsement In Indiana, The State Where Tyson Did Time For Rape

Today I will become the first Injustice.in writer to agree with Carly Fiorina on any matter, let alone a matter of what constitutes class and tastefulness.

My solidarity with Ted Cruz’s vice-presidential pick Carly Fiorina begins–and ends–with utter distaste for statements Donald Trump made on Wednesday when he bragged about his endorsement from Mike Tyson to an audience in Indianapolis.

“I love it. He sent out a tweet. Mike. Iron Mike,” Trump told his supporters. “You know, all the tough guys endorse me. I like that, OK?”

“But Mike said: ‘I love Trump. I endorse Trump,'” Trump went on. “And that’s the end. I’m sure he doesn’t know about your economic situation in Indiana. But when I get endorsed by the tough ones, I like it, because you know what? We need toughness now. We need toughness.”

Indiana, by the way, is the state in which the former heavyweight champion was imprisoned for three years after he was found guilty in 1992 of raping a beauty contest contestant, 18-year-old Desiree Washington.

Tasteless, I know.

Many people in Indianapolis vividly remember the trial and its brutal details.

Why Donald Trump would brag about being friends with a convicted rapist the same week a California woman filed suit against Trump himself, alleging that she was raped repeatedly by the tycoon and his friend, convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein, is beyond my comprehension.

Fiorina trashes Trump for touting Mike Tyson endorsement — let’s just say she’s not a fan https://t.co/kk4rNI8mUR pic.twitter.com/KzCsDag5dp — Jack Furnari (@JackBPR) April 29, 2016

Shortly after Trump’s boast of Tyson’s support, while answering questions from reporters in Indianapolis, Carly Fiorina waged a very effective attack on the GOP frontrunner.

“Sorry, I don’t consider a convicted rapist a tough guy,” Fiorina said. “And I think it says a lot about Donald Trump’s campaign and his character that he is standing up and cheering for an endorsement by Mike Tyson.”

I agree with Fiorina entirely, although those words were difficult to type.

Trump’s supporter Roger Stone then called Fiorina a racist on Twitter for her statement that Tyson isn’t “tough” and for recalling his rape conviction. Stone is the same Trump consultant who spread rumors to the National Enquirer in March, accusing Ted Cruz of having affairs with multiple women.

I knew @CarlyFiorina was an incompetent. I didn't know she was a racist .https://t.co/8O6Py6EOxf #Trump2016 — Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) April 29, 2016

Trump and Tyson have had a relationship of some kind for over 30 years. In 1992 Donald Trump told NBC News that Tyson was “railroaded in this case” and attempted to blame the young beauty contestant for what Tyson did to her. After a jury had found him guilty of rape.

“You have a young woman that was in his hotel room late in the evening at her own will,” Trump said in an NBC Nightly News video package obtained by BuzzFeed News through the Vanderbilt University Television News Archive. “You have a young woman seen dancing for the beauty contest—dancing with a big smile on her face, looked happy as can be.”

Mother Jones investigated Trump’s links to Tyson back in 1992 and discovered that Trump tried to buy his old friend’s way out of prison after the rape conviction.

[…]To save the champ from being locked up, Trump pitched a highly controversial proposal that would have essentially allowed Tyson to buy his way out of prison. To some observers, it looked like Trump was engaging in a form of bribery—or at least attempting to rig the system.

The time Donald Trump tried to get Mike Tyson out of serving prison time for rape. https://t.co/C7FDtYq76k pic.twitter.com/qdtGEPXBBX — Mother Jones (@MotherJones) April 29, 2016

Trump was not merely acting out of friendship, however, when he told reporters that he should be able to host a Tyson-Holyfield fight to generate millions of dollars, in order to pay for Tyson’s crime–and to put money into his own pocket. Trump earned millions from hosting fights in his hotels.

At that point, the press conference took a weird turn. Trump was asked, “If your sister was raped by a millionaire, would you encourage her to accept a big bundle of cash to forget everything?” He replied, “I think every individual situation is different.” Trump then said he couldn’t guarantee that Tyson wouldn’t rape anybody else if he were allowed to avoid prison.

The lead prosecutor in Tyson’s rape case, Greg Garrison, is now a conservative talk radio host in Indianapolis.

Garrison blasted Trump’s proposal of buying Tyson’s guilt back in 1992, saying “These people seem to think they can buy their way out of anything. Well, I’ve never seen anyone buy his way out of jail in this state yet.”

On his show on Thursday, Garrison reminded listeners of gruesome details of the case which nearly destroyed a young woman’s life and blasted Trump for the callousness and ignorance he threw in with his support.

“A tough one. Well, Mr. Trump, tough is one thing. A serial rapist is quite something else,” said Garrison.

“In Indiana? Really? Did nobody in that whole entourage of yours know that that snake raped a lovely kid in this town?” the radio host asked. “I think I’d beef up my intelligence operation a little bit. Things cavalierly fly off of the top of his head, and I have to wonder, is that person a good commander-in-chief, the leader of the free world?”

In another odd twist to today’s story, Bristol Palin, the daughter of Trump Super Fan Sarah Palin, made a reference to Tyson in a post she made today defending ESPN’s Curt Shilling, who was fired for sharing a meme that disparages transgender people. In it she recalled a time when ESPN hosts laughed as Mike Tyson said her mother needed to be raped.

“I, for one,” Bristol wrote, “think it’s hilarious that Curt Schilling’s comments about ‘men being men’ was the straw that broke the camel’s back over at ESPN. I mean, that ESPN host laughing hysterically when Mike Tyson said my mom needed to be raped was just fine.”

In 2011, in fact Mike Tyson went on the radio show “Gridlock” on KWWN, a Las Vegas affiliate of ESPN to tell the host he would be interested in violently raping Palin after discussing a rumor that she had had an affair with former NBA player Glen Rice.

“Glen Rice is a wonderful man,” Tyson said. “He’s a wonderful guy. You want her to be with somebody like [Dennis] Rodman getting up … in there. Pushing her guts up in the back of her head!” Tyson went on to say that Rice was too “non-threatening.” “Glen Rice is a nice, mellow, docile man, non-threatening guy,” he said. “You want someone like Rodman — yeah baby! Let’s get that donkey in here now. [laughter] Just imagine Palin with a big old black stallion ripping. Yeehaw!” […] Tyson was asked if Palin earned his vote by allegedly being open to sex with black men. Tyson explained that, as a felon, he is unable to vote. But he offered his opinion about what the allegation means for Palin’s standing in the black community. “She could always get boned out by a black person, a vote to bang her,” Tyson said. “Other than a vote to run office, the only thing she can do … she’s not a bad person because she likes black people at least in her.” Later in the interview, Tyson had a name for what Palin “needed.” “Sarah Palin … she met the ‘wombshifter.’”

What concerns me most is that Trump’s business interest in Tyson, who made him millions as a heavyweight champion, is likely to have enabled the real estate mogul to overlook his horrific crime against a young woman, to see the woman as responsible for her own fate, and attempt to buy justice.

What concerns me most is that this blatant disregard for the judicial system, for women, and for sanity appears to be motivated by one thing: Greed.