US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he may pardon late boxer Muhammad Ali, who was sentenced to five years in prison for evading military conscription in 1967, during the Vietnam War, declaring himself a conscientious objector.
Donald Trump told reporters that he was looking at "thousands of names" of different people who could be granted clemency.
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Twitter rushed to react to the announcement, with many puzzled over the idea to pardon the late renowned boxer, as the US Supreme Court overturned his conviction decades ago.
Trump’s idea to pardon Muhammad Ali is confusing. The Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 1971. And in 1977 Jimmy Carter granted a blanket pardon to draft evaders.
— frank lucas (@AndreLowe) 8 июня 2018 г.
If you needed further proof that Trump uses pardons as PR stunts, consider that Muhammad Ali was already pardoned decades ago.
— Queer Curmudgeon (@QueerCurmudgeon) 8 июня 2018 г.
Trump floats posthumous pardon for Muhammad Ali. https://t.co/J5DtePJvU4 pic.twitter.com/Ixkcnftv6u
— US Breaking News (@breakingnewsma) 8 июня 2018 г.
Trump already granted a posthumous pardon to another heavyweight champion, Jack Johnson.
Earlier, Donald Trump altered the life sentence of an elderly drug offender, whose cause was supported by Kim Kardashian.
The sportsman had struggled with Parkinson's disease since the 1980s. He died in 2016 at a Phoenix hospital, where he had been treated for respiratory complications related to his illness.
Ali won the Olympic Games in 1960. The boxer became the world heavyweight champion at the age of 22, eventually winning three such titles by 1978.
