President Donald J. Trump jokingly sparred with longtime friend and actor Sylvester Stallone at the White House yesterday.
Stallone was at the White House to watch as President Trump pardoned the first heavyweight boxing champion, Jack Johnson. (RELATED: Sylvester Stallone Gets Major Liberal Backlash After Saying This About Trump).
Sadly, Johnson was convicted of transporting a white woman across state lines for immoral purposes in 1931, which was a violation of the Mann Act. Surrounded by boxing champions and family members of Johnson, Trump issued the pardon posthumously.
Trump announced, “I am taking this very righteous step, I believe, to correct a wrong that occurred in our history, and to honor a truly legendary boxing champion, legendary athlete and a person that, when people got to know him, they really liked him and they really thought he was treated unfairly.”
Trump turned to Stallone to compliment him, as he’s been pushing for this pardon for decades.
“Now, you know, everybody knows Sly and what a job he’s done,” the president opined. “But Sly is a special guy, and he’s more shy than you would think. So I won’t even tell him, but if you want to say a word, you can, Sly.”
“Well, no pressure here, right?” Stallone joked. The room laughed.
Stallone noted that one of the most famous characters he ever wrote was based on Johnson. Did you know this?
“I want to thank you, Mr. President. It’s incredible that you’ve done this because — it’s one thing, I’ve been so blessed with the ‘Rocky’ situation and playing that character. And actually, when I was writing it, I’m thinking about inspirations for this Apollo Creed, and that was Jack Johnson — this bigger than life, incredible character, and who is, you know, treated so unfairly — his prime was taken away — but somehow he still managed to persevere and kept a smile on his face, and he’s truly an inspirational character. So this has been a long time coming. So it’s an honor to take a fictional character like Rocky, and do something in the world of reality.”
Then, Stallone had “stage fright!”
As Trump noted, “The beautiful thing about Sly — and I’ve known him for so long, such a great guy — he didn’t want to have any press. He didn’t want anything. He just wanted Jack Johnson to be recognized.”
Stallone responded, “I have stage fright. Can you believe it? After all these years, I just discovered it.”
The group gave President Trump a boxing glove and Stallone said, “They expect you to start training immediately.”
Trump laughed, “Yeah, we’ll start training.”
“Getting ready for a rematch,” Stallone responded.
WATCH: President Trump posthumously pardons Jack Johnson, the first African American world heavyweight boxing champion. "This was important to Sylvester Stallone, my friend for a long time," Trump said. https://t.co/8F65VeuugN pic.twitter.com/MAK9iT0PCY
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 24, 2018
Stallone said Jack Johnson was the inspiration for the character Apollo Creed in the Rocky films. "He's truly an inspirational character," said Stallone of the late boxer, pardoned posthumously today by Pres Trump. pic.twitter.com/6S6RVAiOWH
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) May 24, 2018
Another pic of Deontay WIlder, Sylvester Stallone, and Lennox Lewis at the Trump Hotel DC. "We are in DC for pardoning of Jack Johnson who was wrongfully convicted of violating #TheMannAct" pic.twitter.com/DRjmwO5Yyx
— Zach Everson (@Z_Everson) May 24, 2018
Trump hung out with Sylvester Stallone and Lennox Lewis as he pardoned former heavywe… https://t.co/T0SlKCQ2ZT pic.twitter.com/03oce6aWr6
— Mark Petticord (@markpetticord) May 24, 2018
What a classy move by President Donald J. Trump! Please share this touching moment with your friends on Facebook and Twitter.
Source: The Daily Caller
