Donald Trump continued to insist on Saturday that boxing promoter Don King had endorsed him -- even though King has clearly denied it.
Trump said on Friday that King had endorsed him, but when the promoter was asked at Muhammad Ali's funeral if he had endorsed Trump, he flatly said "no."
"I'm endorsing the people, I'm not a Republican or a Democrat, I'm a Republicrat and I go with the will of the people," King told the New York Daily News. "The only reason Trump exists is because of the will of the people. So I'm with the people no matter which way it goes."
King told the Daily News he "liked" Trump and described him as "an idol of America.”
But King's denial did not deter Trump from lying. He reiterated his claim Saturday morning that King had endorsed him.
Trump continued the lie at a rally in Florida Saturday afternoon, saying King had called him and told him he was endorsing him.
"You think Don King, and he knows me well, you think he's going to endorse a racist?" he said.
The business mogul attempted to use King's endorsement to appeal to African Americans and cover up his record of racism. The Justice Department has twice sued Trump's company for refusing to rent to black people. Trump has allegedly said "laziness is a trait in blacks" and reportedly ordered African Americans off of the floor of one of his casinos when he came to visit. He has also retweeted white supremacist supporters and said that a Black Lives Matter protester deserved to get beat up.
UPDATE: 7:00 p.m. -- On Saturday afternoon, King told USA Today that he was, in fact, endorsing Donald Trump. The Huffington Post could not reach him directly to confirm.
Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.
Before You Go
