Mike Tyson predicted Donald Trump will win the midterms after a White House visit, then joined the president onstage at a Syracuse rally for New York’s Republican governor candidate.
Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson walked into the West Wing briefing room on Friday, told reporters he expects President Donald Trump to prevail in November’s midterm elections, and then flew with Trump to upstate New York for a campaign stop. Trump brought the boxing legend onstage at the Oncenter in Syracuse while stumping for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman.
Fox News Digital reported the White House appearance and the joint rally as Trump worked to boost local Republican candidates, including Blakeman’s bid to replace Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Tyson did not hedge.
Speaking to reporters before departure, he put his prediction in plain terms.
"I believe Donald Trump is gonna win it,"
Tyson said.
At the Oncenter on October 9, 2026, Trump introduced Tyson to the crowd and shook his hand after the onstage appearance. The president kept the tone light with reporters earlier, joking about the former champ’s presence.
Trump told them:
"I won’t be fighting him today,"
and added of their long relationship:
"We’ve been friends for a long time."
That friendship stretches back decades. In the 1980s Trump hosted boxing events in Atlantic City that featured Tyson. The two also attended a March of Dimes dinner in New York City in November 1989. The Syracuse stop put the old ties back in front of voters as Trump campaigned for Blakeman and other New York Republicans ahead of the midterms.
Tyson’s recent visits and public comments also track a policy fight he has pressed for years. In June 2025 he joined NBA star Kevin Durant and other athletes in urging the White House to pursue federal marijuana reform, including rescheduling, clemency for nonviolent marijuana offenses, and changes to banking restrictions.
In December 2025 Trump signed an executive order directing the attorney general to expedite marijuana’s proposed move from Schedule I to Schedule III and to complete the federal rulemaking process. The order did not itself finalize the change. Tyson welcomed the step and kept pushing. On X he wrote that “Clemency and federal legalization are the next important steps.” He had earlier told Fox News Digital that rescheduling was a top priority.
He drew a sharp contrast with earlier administrations. Tyson said he was disappointed with how former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden handled cannabis reform, then described a different reception now.
"It was a letdown, but you have to respect they were in power. You have to respect that,"
he said, before adding:
"We have a different president now, so we're talking to him. So, it seems to be a lot different talking to President Trump than with the other guy. And, like I said before, that's their agenda. This is our agenda right here."
Trump’s New York swing was built around local races. Blakeman is the Republican seeking to unseat Hochul. Tyson’s onstage appearance gave the event star power and a direct midterms forecast from a household name who has known Trump since the Atlantic City boxing years. The White House visit, the West Wing remarks, the flight to Syracuse, and the Oncenter introduction formed one continuous show of support in the final stretch before November.
No formal Blakeman endorsement language from Tyson appears in the available account, only the joint appearance with the president who is actively campaigning for the candidate. The message voters saw was simpler: a boxing icon standing with Trump and saying the president’s side wins the midterms.
When a former heavyweight champ walks out of the West Wing predicting a Trump midterm victory and then shares the stage in Syracuse, swing-state and down-ballot Democrats are left answering a very public vote of confidence.
