US President Donald Trump said he is considering granting a posthumous pardon to the late boxer great Muhammad Ali, who refused to do military service during the Vietnam War.
Ali, who died in 2016, was convicted of evading service in 1967 and sentenced to five years in prison, a sentence that was lifted after an appeal to the Supreme Court in 1971.
I’m thinking of Muhammad Ali. I’m thinking about that seriously and some others, others who did not get a fair sentence, “Trump told reporters at the White House before leaving for the G7 summit in Canada.
Trump said Ali was “not very popular” when he refused to do military service during the Vietnam War.
But Ali’s resistance to conscientious objection made him a hero of America’s civil rights and antiwar movement during a highly polarized period in the country’s history.
A charismatic champion who won his first world heavyweight title in 1964, Ali was fired from the box for three years as a result of his conviction but then regained his title with a stellar career that earned him recognition as “the Greatest.” larger).
Trump considers granting posthumous pardon to Muhammad Ali
