Don King   (Photo: Chris Floyd )

George Bush refused to address the NAACP, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t trying to attract black voters. He spoke before the National Urban League, and now he’s got boxing promoter Don King on a cross-country “Economic Empowerment” tour with RNC chairman Ed Gillespie. Jada Yuan spoke to King about his GOP support.

How did you come to be Bush’s promoter?
At a dinner, I said, “You’re a great fighter. I see you out there fighting.” He said, “I don’t know if I can afford you, Don.” I said, “Mr. President, for you, I’ll do it for free.” That was a glorious moment.

How much time do you get with Bush?
At dinners, I spend maybe three or four minutes with him. And we chat in the photo ops.

Why do you like him so much?
Oooh! I get a passion! I’m getting excited right now when you said that. George Walker Bush—he’s tough-minded but he’s tender-hearted. He’s trying to reclaim that glory of that American Dream for all Americans. He put African-Americans in top policy positions higher than any president. He took two people, black, and put them in charge of 300 million people for their security. Even the racists and the extremists and all those who are untoward and un-American, we’re protecting them, too. This is a devastating blow to the color barrier.

I assume you’re talking about Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell.
He’s also got Alphonso Jackson in hud. He’s got Rod Paige, secretary of Education.

What else do you like about Bush?
George Bush utilizes the big stick. Whatever means necessary. If he wasn’t in that White House when we had that despicable attack of terrorism in New York, I shudder to think, I tremble at what would be happening. We would probably have to be doing this interview on the underground, secretly, for fear if we’d go to the street, the treachery that abounds would take alight.

You were such a vocal supporter of Clinton. What’s Kerry doing wrong?
The Democrats is not doing nothing wrong. They’re doing nothing. Martin Luther King says that both the Republican and the Democrat have a long history of using the black vote as a political football: Promise us everything, give us nothing. Kerry has not promised anything to blacks. That’s why I tell every black American: In voting for George Bush, you’re voting for yourself. We can go back to being Democrats in the next election.

But Kerry did speak before the NAACP.
I don’t know what Kerry said, but I could probably write his speech for him: “We gonna work together. It’s been too long that you’ve been denied your rights.” And then he’s going to smile and say a couple of clichés as to what the freedom movement was and how we were all there. Martin Luther King said we must find a new white liberal. I submit to you, George Walker Bush is that new white liberal.

Has anyone come up after a speech at a black church and said he’s changing his vote?
More than you’d ever dream. They don’t have to say it for me to know I’m making sense.

Do you benefit from the Bush tax break?
All I can say is, thank God I can afford to pay them. Once I paid over $30 million in taxes over two years. I was so proud!

Would you ever bet on an election?
You know what? I’m betting on this one.

How much?
Not money. I’m betting on power.

Related:

• Archive: “Intelligencer”
• Articles by Jada Yuan
• Table of Contents: Aug 9, 2004 issue of New York | Subscribe!