Once a liberal, Mike Tyson says he is getting ‘a little conservative’ with age

Mike Tyson is not a fan of discussing politics in a public setting. During a recent interview with Newsmax, the former heavyweight boxing champion…

By: Karim Zidan | 9 months ago
Once a liberal, Mike Tyson says he is getting ‘a little conservative’ with age
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Mike Tyson is not a fan of discussing politics in a public setting.

During a recent interview with Newsmax, the former heavyweight boxing champion was asked to comment on Florida governor Ron DeSantis since Tyson resides in the state. The former champ dodged the question and reiterated his determination not to express his political views publicly, claiming that “my family gets mad, my friends get mad when we talk politics.”

“Listen, if I start talking politics, my friends aren’t going to like me,” Tyson said. “Let’s just not do that, OK? Let’s just not do that.”

Tyson, who previously endorsed Donald Trump for president of the United States in 2015, claimed that he used to share his political perspectives until he received a “beating” from U.S. media. “They stole my freedom of speech,” Tyson said.

Despite not wanting to get into a political discussion, Tyson was willing to present an honest admission of his current political leaning, noting that he is getting more conservative with time.

“When I was younger, I was all-out liberal. But as I get older, and I look at my children, and I see what’s out there in the world, I get a little conservative.

“It’s common sense, looking at the world we have now. You want safety.”

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About the author
Karim Zidan
Karim Zidan

Karim Zidan is a investigative reporter and feature writer focusing on the intersection of sports and politics. He has written for BloodyElbow since 2014 and has served as an associate editor since 2016. He also writes for The New York Times and The Guardian. Karim has been invited to speak about his work at numerous universities, including Princeton, and was a panelist at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and the Oslo Freedom Forum. He also participated in the United Nations counter-terrorism conference in 2021. His reporting on Ramzan Kadyrov’s involvement in MMA, much of which was done for Bloody Elbow, has led to numerous award nominations, and was the basis of an award-winning HBO Real Sports documentary.

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